Side Deck
by Alecto Perdita
Summary: Over the remaining months of their high school career, Jounouchi and Kaiba slowly learn to get along and maybe even fall in love. But first, they'll have to overcome the obstacle that is Kaiba himself. [Post-canon fic; slow burn; eventual romance]
1. Ghostrick Scare

Hi everyone, welcome to another WIP. This used to be a one-shot simply entitled "Ghostrick Scare," which is still here but now designated as chapter 1. This is a post-canon slow burn romance between Kaiba and Jounouchi, taking place over the last nine months of their final year in high school. There are currently 12 chapters planned right now, but knowing me, it'll end up being more than that. But no more than 15 chapters, because that is the card limit in side decks. xD

I wanted to write something with the potential for more fluff and less external-plot-driven. Namely, this will be focused on them being Japanese high school students before being duelists or anything else. So expect to see a lot of the standard set dressings from slice of life mangas!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Ghostrick Scare**

_July  
First, Anzu and the others guilt Jounouchi into signing up for the courage test. Then he gets assigned Kaiba as a partner! What else could go wrong?_

* * *

"You don't have to sign up if you're a wuss," Honda taunted.

Jounouchi growled and threw a punch in his friend's direction. Honda laughed and danced out of reach.

With one hand on her hip, Anzu's other hand dangled the sign-up sheet in his face. "Just put your name down. I only need one more signature before the school will authorize this. Don't cause trouble for everyone else," she chastised.

Him cause trouble? She was the one—

He was about to argue when Yuugi cut him off.

"It'll be fun, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi pleaded. Then he unleashed his puppy eyes. "It's our last summer together."

There it was— the clinch in their pincer movement. His friends might not think the world of his intelligence, but even they must know he could smell a setup before he saw it.

But damn if Yuugi's puppy-dog eyes weren't effective.

He relented. "Fine, give it here."

Scrawling his name in the last empty square felt a bit like signing his own death warrant.

As soon as Jounouchi's borrowed pen left the paper, she snatched the clipboard back. "No take backs," she smiled smugly.

-x-x-x-

No one knew exactly where the courage test was taking place ahead of time. As class representative, Anzu was in charge of organizing the event and she was extremely tight-lipped about the whole thing.

They, Jounouchi included, offered to help on multiple occasions, but she turned them down each time. It turned out she already had an assistant.

The email went out early on the evening of July 14th— when the humidity and heat that blanketed Domino City had reached an annual peak. It simply read: _Come test your courage and face your fears. 11:30PM sharp_, then followed by an address on the edge of town.

Jounouchi's t-shirt was soaked through with sweat by the time that he, Honda, Yuugi, Bakura, and Otogi caught the bus a block away from the Turtle Game Shop. They rode the bus for about 40 minutes, until Domino's buildings gave way to the woods. There was very little noise this far outside the city. It was unnatural. The last leg of their journey involved a trek along a wide but deserted road, and their final destination was an old church that loomed in front of a dense backdrop of trees.

Based on its crumbling facade, the cathedral had seen better days. A path illuminated by candles led up to the one door standing ajar. Jounouchi stopped in the shadow of the building, fighting the shivers that ran down his spine.

"Jounouchi-kun, what's wrong?" Yuugi asked.

Honda gave Jounouchi's back a firm shove forward. "Come on, Anzu will have our skins if we're late."

Anzu was the last thing that Jounouchi was worried about in a place like this. But he swallowed the comment and walked into the church's dim interior. The inside was similarly lit by candles like the ones outside— which he realized were electronic up close. But the high vaulted ceilings remained curtained in darkness because the faint light didn't reach up so high. Jounouchi scanned through each of the dusty pews, some already partially collapsed. A collage of graffiti covered one wall. He recognized a few of the tags.

Most of the class had already gathered around the abandoned cistern and was buzzing with anticipation. Honda led the charge to the front of the crowd where Anzu stood with an unexpected pipsqueak trailing her.

"What are you doing here? Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Mokuba glared defiantly back. "I'm helping Anzu."

Jounouchi slung an arm around around Yuugi's shoulder, stooping over to match his friend's height. "Better watch it, Yuugi, he might have a crush on Anzu."

Both Yuugi and Mokuba turned bright red enough to light the room with their faces. Yuugi hid his behind his hands and Mokuba darted forward with a low growl. Jounouchi dropped his best friend and jumped back to dodge the kick aimed at his shins, bumping into someone along the way. He turned, but his apology and grin shriveled when faced with a Kaiba who somehow towered over him with only an 8-centimeter height difference.

"Ugh, you're here too." Jounouchi groaned.

"Don't mistake me for you. I'm here to keep an eye on Mokuba and the equipment."

"What—"

"Jounouchi," Anzu barked, tearing his attention away from his rival. "I'm trying to get started here."

Jounouchi threw one last glare at Kaiba as the other boy drew away from the rest of the group. "Stuck-up asshole," he muttered under his breath.

Anzu cleared her throat and they quieted. "Before we start, I'm going to tell you a little about the history of this cathedral."

Jounouchi shivered and shuffled closer to Yuugi, who gave an encouraging smile.

Her face grew solemn, not unlike a priest presiding over a funeral, as she spoke, "This was actually one of the earliest churches built in Japan by Portuguese Jesuits in 1565. Of course, this is not the original church, but the foundation is still the same. After Christianity was officially outlawed in 1632, the local government decided to make an example of the Christian community here. One Sunday during Mass, soldiers boarded up the church from the outside and set fire to the building. The building, along with everyone inside, burned to ashes."

A hushed murmur swept through his classmates. Several girls moved closer to each other for support. Jounouchi made sure his feet stayed glued to the spot where he stood.

One hand rose over the heads of the audience. "Then why is there a church here now?" Maeno asked.

"The current church was built in 1905. Originally, a rich merchant from Kyoto planned to build a mansion in this spot. He was warned not to by the townspeople. Because for decades and even centuries, they had heard strange noises and saw strange lights in the area. Children would disappear into these woods— never be seen again. They knew this place was haunted by the spirits of those who were burned alive. But the merchant didn't believe them. Many accidents happened after construction began, workers got hurt and building materials went missing. Soon no one would come work on the house. The merchant raged at the locals, calling them cowards and thieves. But he refused to give up on the project and hired workers to come in from Kyoto," she paused abruptly and turned the flashlight in her hand up, illuminating her grim expression from below.

Suddenly, Jounouchi was all too aware of the breath trapped in his throat. Behind him though, he heard a distinct-Kaiba-like snort. Anzu threw a glare that seemed to say "stop ruining it for everyone else."

After wrestling her irritation under control, she continued, "The night before the workers from Kyoto were supposed to arrive, the merchant sleep-walked all the way from his bed to the construction site. He picked up a shovel and dug through the night. The next morning, the workers found the merchant standing over a pile of charred bones."

Some of the girls squeaked, while a few of the boys snorted. Jounouchi would never admit that the sound that escaped his mouth was closer to the girls'.

Anzu smiled— the faint light cast shadows that stretched her lips too wide. "The merchant abandoned his plans to build a house here. Instead, he hired an Italian architect to design and build a church. The merchant made only one demand of the design: a set of underground escape tunnels."

He really didn't like where this was going...

Mokuba stepped forward, bearing a box in his arms. The box was full of trinkets, like small toys and cute stationery found at the local 100-yen store.

Gesturing to the box, she said, "For tonight's trial, you will be randomly paired with a classmate and make a journey through the tunnels to the memorial at the other end. Once outside, you will leave a token from the box at the memorial and then follow the stone path back to this church. You will each be given a flashlight to use. It's perfectly safe as long as you don't stray too far from the designated path. Are we ready to get started?"

"Yeah!"

"Let's do this!"

Jounouchi wished he could be half as enthused.

Anzu started counting off everyone in attendance. As she reached the end of the group, her shoulders drooped and she narrowed her eyes. She counted everyone again starting from the other end. "Someone is missing."

"Uh, Saeki's out of town," someone chirped.

"We have an odd number of people," she frowned. Then her face lit up and she got that evil glint in her eyes, "Kaiba-kun—"

"No."

"You're already here."

"No."

"You don't want to disappoint your classmates, do you?"

Kaiba stared back, unimpressed.

Seeing she was getting nowhere, she appealed to Mokuba with a glance. The kid pounced on his brother and pouted, "Please, Nii-sama! We— I worked so hard on this."

Kaiba's face gained a pinched quality that made him look more constipated than usual. But it was obvious to Jounouchi that he was struggling and even more obvious that he was going to give in. There was never any question of how tightly Mokuba had Kaiba wrapped around his little finger.

Kaiba turned his stormy gaze away. "Fine."

Jounouchi leaned back to catch Honda's attention and made a whipping motion and sound. They snickered in unison.

"Thank you, Nii-sama!" Mokuba skipped away and returned with a tissue box. As Anzu explained that there were sheets of paper inside numbered from 1 to 20, Mokuba extended the box to his brother first. Kaiba stuck his hand in and drew first. He wouldn't show anyone his number. Jounouchi pitied whoever was going to get paired with his sourpuss face.

"Numbers 1 and 2 should come get their flashlights and offering now. We're going to wait five minutes between sending off each pair, so please be assured that you'll be alone down there."

Several people laughed. Jounouchi was not one on them.

Mokuba continued around to the rest of the group until everyone drew from the box. Jounouchi flashed his number, 17, at Yuugi, who shook his head and revealed his 9. Yuugi's partner turned out to be Bakura, and they both breathed a sigh of relief at being paired with someone they knew. Honda matched with another boy they had never spoken with, while Otogi drew Sakura, one of the prettiest girls in their year.

Two by two, the number of people in the chapel dwindled down to a handful.

"Seventeen and eighteen," Mokuba finally called.

Both he and Kaiba stepped forward at the same time and then stopped short. They stared at each other— Kaiba unblinking and Jounouchi in disbelief. Come on, his luck couldn't possibly suck that much!

Anzu glanced worriedly between them. "Is this going to be a problem?"

"No," Kaiba said and headed for the stairs.

Jounouchi grabbed the first item from the top of the box of stuff, a wooden top, and shoved it deep into his back pocket. Then he sucked in a lungful of air and followed Kaiba into the dark bowels of the church.

-x-x-x-

The stone walls of the tunnels were cool and dry. It might have been a nice break from the stifling heat above ground.

You know, if he wasn't trapped in underground tunnels beneath a haunted church— narrow tunnels with barely enough space overhead for Jounouchi to stand up straight.

In the dark.

Near midnight.

Alone with Kaiba.

Could the night get any worse?

Jounouchi glared at the back of Kaiba's head, hoping it'd give him a headache or something. At least that's what he presumed to be the dim shape bobbing up and down several feet in front of him. He raised the flashlight from the path to double-check and snickered, watching as Kaiba walked bowed over to avoid running into the ceiling.

Then a shriek echoed down the cramped corridor. Jounouchi jumped and cursed when his head bumped the low ceiling.

Kaiba turned, shining his flashlight directly into Jounouchi's face. "You're not scared, are you, bonkotsu?"

He threw an arm over his eyes and bristled. "Of course not!"

Kaiba smirked. The combination of light and dark made it look like a pair disembodied lips floating in mid-air. Jounouchi tried not to shiver.

Jounouchi continued, "I don't see why I'm stuck with you, guess that means I'm doing everyone else a public service."

"Let's get this over with then."

Why couldn't he be with Yuugi?

About seven yards in, the tunnel widened enough for two people to walk comfortably side-by-side, but not tall enough for either of them to stand straight. Jounouchi wished he could say the change was reassuring— except the tunnel zig-zagged back and forth like a snake, making it impossible to see what waited beyond the next bend.

He swore a third shadow just flickered across the wall. Jounouchi quickened his pace to catch up with Kaiba. In his hurry, he tripped over a raised flagstone and fell into Kaiba's back with a soft oomph.

"Shit."

Kaiba sighed loudly. "Are you going to jump at every little sound and shadow? Really, bonkotsu, even I thought better of you than this."

"Hey, so you're telling me that Anzu's story didn't even spook you— not even a little? I don't believe you."

"It's a children's story. Next you'll tell me that you believe in ghosts." Kaiba said in disgust as he started walking again.

Jounouchi fell into pace next to the other boy and aimed the flashlight in his direction. "What? You don't believe in ghosts?"

"No, it's superstitious nonsense."

"Bullshit! What do you call the other Yuugi then? Or did you just wipe the last two years from your hard drive?"

"Very funny. And I prefer to think of Yuugi and his other self as an isolated incident."

"What about Bakura and Malik Ishtar then?" Jounouchi countered smugly.

Kaiba glared, but nothing could put a damper on Jounouchi's triumph. It wasn't everyday that he got to rub the bastard's face in just how wrong he was. He could do this all night. He was about to continue with more examples when Kaiba went very still, his flashlight drifting up to a point above Jounouchi's left shoulder.

A chill crept up the back of Jounouchi's neck. "What is it?"

Slowly, Kaiba lifted one hand and pointed to where the light shone. "There—"

He didn't wait for Kaiba to finish before whipping around and running face first into a convex wall. "Fuck! Dammit, Kaiba!" He pressed a hand to his aching nose.

When Kaiba laughed, the sound managed to be the one of the most deeply insulting noise Jounouchi had ever heard. Even if it did make him seem more human— however briefly.

-x-x-x-

"Are we there yet?" Jounouchi asked.

He didn't expect to get a reply; and he didn't get one.

"How much longer do you think it'll take?"

His only response was the click of Kaiba's heel against the flagstone.

"Say something!"

"Boo."

"Hah-fucking-hilarious. You're not gonna let me forget about this, are you?"

Kaiba had gone quiet again.

Jounouchi hated to admit it, but he'd lost track of time down here. The tunnel seemed to go on forever. If felt like they'd been down here for hours, even though Anzu had assured them that it would take them no more than half-an-hour to walk the damn thing. The things he did for his friends! They better appreciate him after tonight.

He'd take anything to distract him from the sense of doom following him like a sick puppy. If he had to resort to the tactics of a five-year-old, well— Jounouchi could live with himself afterwards.

"Kaiba."

"Kaiba~"

"Kaiba Seto."

The only sign that Jounouchi was having any sort of effect was the increasingly rigid set of the other boy's shoulder. Kaiba'd crack eventually.

"Come on, Kaiba," he called for the dozenth time. "I know you can hear me!"

"I could kill you right now and leave you to rot. No one would ever find you," Kaiba finally growled after what seemed like an eternity.

"Hah! As if you would."

Kaiba stopped, turned abruptly, and tried to loom over Jounouchi. Really, who did Kaiba think he was fooling? They were practically the same height, and Jounouchi had faced down way more beefier guys before. "I could," he snarled.

"But you wouldn't," Jounouchi insisted. While that might not have been the case in their first year of high school (oh, and Kaiba had tried then...), he really believed that now. Unless Jounouchi did something really heinous, Kaiba wasn't going to hurt him— much. He broke into a lopsided grin. "Besides, I'd haunt your skinny ass _forever_."

The tension broke.

Kaiba groaned, "Please don't."

Jounouchi continued gleefully. "I'd get to to live it up in that sweet mansion of yours. Your bedroom is probably the size of a whole 1LDK (1). I bet you have your own personal dueling arena! Oh, even better— a shrine to your massive ego."

"You've thought about this entirely too much." Kaiba turned away in disgust and continued down the tunnel.

"Come on, there's gotta be something awesome at your place. Don't tell me you have a underground bunker or a Batcave to brood and sulk in!"

Kaiba coughed and his shoulders gave a barely perceptible twitch. "There is a bunker. It was built after the war and maintained through the 50s and 60s."

Jounouchi couldn't help himself as a short bark of laughter escaped his lips. Kaiba looked so guilty, like a little kid caught with his hands in the cookie jar. It was rare for the other boy to leave an opening this huge, and Jounouchi would enjoy it for however briefly it lasted. He opened his mouth to grill Kaiba more on this underground bunker when something white seemed to bleed out of the wall behind Kaiba's head. He froze, as the white circle expanded and took the shape of a small pale hand. The hand was trailed by an equally pale forearm, then an elbow, a shoulder, and long stringy black hair reaching out of the wall.

He gave a decidedly unmanly yelp.

Kaiba glared at him. "If you're trying to get back at me for earlier, you're going to have to try a lot harder. No one believes your shit acting, bonkotsu."

As Kaiba spoke, the ghostly figure— the fucking ghost was hanging out of the wall from her torso up. Her exposed skin was scarred and covered in large patches of burns, including the half of her face that became visible when she quirked her head at a 60 degree angle. Her one hand was still raised in mid-air while her attention was very deliberately focused toward Kaiba.

Jounouchi moved at the very moment that she struck. Determined to not leave Kaiba to her mercy, he grabbed Kaiba's long sleeve and yanked with all his might. It wasn't the most elegant rescue in recorded history. The sleeve tore clean off, and the two of them tumbled back in a tangle of limbs and sore asses after hitting the stone ground. The sleeve was still clenched in Jounouchi's white-knuckled fist as Kaiba pulled away and shoved Jounouchi down again.

"Get off! What are you doing?" Kaiba growled.

By some miracle, Jounouchi found his voice again. "Saving you from that!" he screamed and pointed at the ghost still half-stuck in the wall.

Kaiba turned and didn't even flinch when he saw the spirit. She, on the other hand, quickly became something out of Jounouchi's worst nightmare as her head swiveled on her neck and fangs grew from her gaping mouth. He didn't react fast enough this time when Kaiba stuck his bare arm right into the mouth of razor-sharp teeth. Jounouchi squeaked, simultaneously assaulted by nausea and the images of Kaiba with a stump for an arm. None of the wet, crunchy noises that he imagined came to pass as the head continued to spin like a top and Kaiba stayed still.

After a few more seconds, his confused brain managed a small "what?", quickly echoed by a "how?".

"It's a hologram," Kaiba rolled his eyes as he retracted his arm. It was intact and bare of any scratch marks. As if on cue, the ghost itself also vanished.

Jounouchi's mouth flapped open and shut several times before he asked, "Like Duel Monsters?"

"It's the same technology." Kaiba dusted his hands, frowning as he examined the hem of his torn sleeve.

Even though he now knew it was fake, Jounouchi still had a hard time getting his heartbeat under 80 beats per second. "You're telling me that your brother set up your company technology just to scare a bunch of high-schoolers on a courage test?! That's insane!"

Kaiba scowled at the same time as he muttered, "—a waste. I believe he also installed some night-vision cameras nearby." He briefly gestured the ceiling as he spoke.

Jounouchi turned his flashlight to examine the rafters overhead. Nestled between two exposed beams was a small rounded object like the surveillance equipments in stores. He raised his fist and shouted, "You're going to pay for this, Mokuba!" He didn't know if anyone was watching on the other end or if the sound would even carry, but it was the least he could do to maintain face. "You hear me, Mokuba?"

Kaiba sighed and resumed walking. "Come on, let's get this over with. The exit can't be that much further off."

"Uh, sorry about your shirt. Did you want this back?" Jounouchi waved the torn sleeve.

The other boy sneered, but didn't slow.

He sighed and pocketed the fabric anyway. There was no telling if Kaiba would change his mind. The night had definitely taken a surreal turn. As he followed behind Kaiba, he muttered to himself, "Crazy fucking rich bastards."

There was no way Kaiba didn't hear him.

-x-x-x-

Jounouchi felt the stiff breeze first— barely strong enough to sway a leaf. Pushing past Kaiba, he dashed the last 50 yards toward the shadowed contours of stairs bathed in moonlight. He scrambled up the creaky staircase and emerged in a dimly lit clearing with a large stone in the center. With hands stretched toward the open sky, he threw back his head and shouted with glee, "I'm finally free! Whoo!"

He looked back. Kaiba was taking his sweet time. If he didn't hurry up, Jounouchi was going to leave his scrawny ass behind.

Jounouchi took several lungful of air, still heavy and infused with the early heat wave. He checked his wristwatch. It had taken them almost twenty minutes to walk those tunnels, but the return trip above ground would hopefully take less time. He approached the large stone monument, which was simply chiseled with a short poem. At the foot of the monument was a small wooden box full of trinkets left by the other groups that had passed through.

His fingers closed around the wooden top he had picked up at the church when there came a rustle in the bushes.

"I'm not falling for that again," he declared. But despite himself, a slight tremor in his voice betrayed him the sliver of fear inching down his spine.

"Jounouchi..." An eerie voice moaned from somewhere.

"Come out! Honda, I'm going to kick your ass to the moon if that's you." He scanned the clearing, which was surrounded by forest on all sides. He even contemplated going back underground again. What the hell was taking Kaiba so long?!

"Jounouchi..." The voice had moved closer.

First, Jounouchi's flashlight caught on a shred of once-white fabric, torn and stained, peeking out from behind the rock. Then a hand leapt into view, grasping the ragged stone and pushing out the rest of the body with a head full of long black hair and a protruding tongue dragging across the dirt.

He screeched, caught between his fight and flight instinct. "You're not real! You're not real!" He reminded himself. Following Kaiba's previous example, he reached out to touch it.

Except his palm met solid matter. It didn't pass through the ghost. It wasn't a fucking hologram.

"FUCK!" He stumbled back, but the ghost kept moving toward him. "Fuck fuck fuck!"

The ghost dove at him. Jounouchi broke for the treeline, hoping the cover would buy him some time. The ghost followed, homing in on him like a predator after its prey.

"Jounouchi, what the hell are you doing?"

Kaiba had finally emerged from the tunnel with his flashlight in hand.

"Stay back. That one's not a hologram! It's real!" So far, it only seemed interested in him. But there was no telling what might happen if Kaiba tried to approach— and he was already closer to the creature to begin with.

The ghost crept ever closer. Jounouchi knew he only had one option before him. "Don't follow me! Call for help!" He headed deeper into the woods, only looked back to make sure it was following him and leaving the other boy alone. It worked. He ran as if hellhounds were nipping at his heel, because they were!

Someone called after him. "Wait, Jounouchi! Stop!" It sounded a lot like Mokuba. Jounouchi wasn't going to let it trick him. In movies, evil spirits always tried to lure people by imitating other people they knew!

"Jounouchi! Listen to me!"

When he risked a glance over his shoulders, all he saw was the grotesque creature with its extended tongue flying in the air like a banner stumbling to keep up.

"Jounouchi!" Kaiba barked from even further behind.

Now he definitely knew it was a trick, because there was no way Kaiba Seto would try to come to his rescue with a vengeful spirit on his tail. The real Kaiba would sit back, laugh, and enjoy the show.

"Watch out!"

He noticed the drop a second too late. One moment there was ground underneath his feet and the next, he was flying through the air. Gravity, the bitch, yanked him down by the ankle and he faceplanted in the dirt. Then he kept sliding and rolling down the side of a steep hill, banging his brain around the inside of his skull until he was seeing stars. Just when he thought the night couldn't get any worse...

Shit, where was the spirit of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh when you needed him? He blacked out.

-x-x-x-

Something warm and bright hovered over his face— the light bleeding through his closed eyelids. Jounouchi groaned, pushed past his aching pain, and pried open his eyelids. It wasn't the moon. The dense foliage overhead hid the night sky from view. His vision was blurred, not helped by the light shining directly in his eyes.

"Turn that down, will ya?" he protested weakly— too tired to even raise a hand to bat away the nuisance.

"You may have a concussion."

The brown blob floating above him slowly resolved itself into Kaiba's face, scowling and almost thunderous. He seriously looked pissed off.

"Oh, it got you too."

Kaiba probably blamed Jounouchi for his death. Hurray, an eternity of listening to Kaiba's bitching!

"You're not dead," he snapped. He flicked his flashlight to a spot above, illuminating Mokuba dressed in rags while clutching a prosthetic tongue, about a yard long, in his hands.

"Oh," was all Jounouchi could manage in a daze. "Your brother got me real good."

"Mokuba, go back to the church. Call Dr. Mikage and tell him to come down here immediately." Jounouchi must have a concussion, because he'd been in walk-in freezers warmer than Kaiba's current tone. Which suggested he might be mad at Mokuba. Which was crazy because Kaiba never got mad at his little brother.

"Sure. I'm sorry again, Nii-sama." Then Mokuba slipped away, as quiet as a ghost.

"Can you sit up?" Kaiba asked.

"I think." Slowly, Jounouchi pushed himself into a sitting position. He was in one piece, which was more than what he could say about his broken flashlight lying nearby. His head hurt and there was a throbbing pain in his right arm. He flexed the limb, grateful that his muscles obeyed without too much additional pain. But when he tried to stand, the same could not be said for his legs. He hissed in pain, ankles buckling beneath his body weight as a lance of pain shot up his left leg, and sank back down to the ground. "I think it might be broken."

"Let me see."

Kaiba's words were strangely tense, but Jounouchi couldn't see his face because their only light source was now focused on his feet. Though firm, his touch was gentle as he rolled back the hem of Jounouchi's jeans to examine his ankle. Jounouchi gritted his teeth and bit back a yelp when Kaiba tried to turn it.

Finally, he said, "Your ankle's heavily swollen. Not broken, so twisted most likely. We'll know more when the doctor examines you."

"Whee," Jounouchi fake-cheered. Even if it was just a sprain, he was going to spend the rest of the summer limping around. "Might as well start crawling back."

When he tried to get up again, Kaiba planted a hand on each shoulder and pushed him down. "You really have no brains. Putting weight on it will only make it worse."

"I'm not going to sit here all night waiting for them to find me!" he protested.

"Fine," Kaiba snapped and turned his back to Jounouchi. For a moment, Jounouchi feared the other boy might leave him alone in the woods. With his back still to Jounouchi, Kaiba dropped to his knees and said impatiently, "I'll carry you."

"Bullshit!" Jounouchi shouted and laughed at the same time. "You'll drop me!"

Looking back over his shoulders with a glower on his face, Kaiba retorted, "I'm not in the habit of kicking injured animals while they're down."

"I'm heavy!"

"I'll manage. If you don't get a move on it, I really will leave you behind."

That sounded more like the Kaiba he knew and loved. Knowing him, Kaiba really would abandon him and then cancel any rescue attempts out of spite. Jounouchi sighed and grabbed their flashlight before throwing both arms over Kaiba's shoulders. He gave an undignified squawk when Kaiba reached back and steadied his grip on Jounouchi's gluts, a stonethrow away from his buttocks. He really wished he could say this was more humiliating for Kaiba than for him. Kaiba rounded his back, which was deceptively broader than it appeared, before hefting Jounouchi up in a piggyback hold. For the sake of stability, Jounouchi wound his arms around the other boy's neck and directed the flashlight in front of them. The last thing they needed was for Kaiba to get injured too.

"Are you sure you can do this?"

"If you don't shut up, I will drop you, bonkotsu."

Jounouchi closed his mouth with a sharp snap.

The hill wasn't as steep as Jounouchi originally thought, probably 20 degrees at most. Climbing back up it was still slow-going and Kaiba nearly lost his footing twice. Once they were back on firm and flat ground, Jounouchi breathed a sigh of relief. They followed the glow of lights beyond the trees to find their way back. Mindful of Kaiba's earlier threat, Jounouchi kept quiet until they reached the spot where Mokuba had first popped up.

"Wait, can we stop for a moment to complete the test?" he asked as they approached the stone monument.

He could feel Kaiba's entire body tense beneath him, which was a strange sensation in itself. "You still want to play this childish game?"

"Says the guy who plays card games for a living," Jounouchi muttered in retaliation, knowing full well that Kaiba could hear every word from this close.

Kaiba said nothing, but came to a stop as requested. To keep from falling, Jounouchi kept one arm braced around Kaiba's neck as his free hand reached for the wooden top. He gave the toy a light toss and cheered when it landed neatly inside the box with the other trinkets. Without waiting for Jounouchi to resettle, Kaiba started moving immediately. Jounouchi swayed before throwing himself against Kaiba and clung like a barnacle in renewed fervor. More LED candles lit the stone path back to the church, but Jounouchi kept the flashlight trained on the ground.

"Hey, Kaiba, you've been less of a jackass than usual tonight." Figuring that Kaiba wasn't going to comment, Jounouchi continued, "So let's not stop here. Don't be too hard on Mokuba. It was just a prank."

"You're going to take his side even though he's the reason you ended up like this?"

Jounouchi shrugged. Maybe he'd be mad later, but he was mostly tired at the moment. And he had faith that he'd come up with a way to get back at the kid. "Eh, it's not worth getting your panties in a twist over."

"I can't tell if you're simple-minded or that good-natured," Kaiba grumbled.

He poked Kaiba's cheek and smiled, "I'm a saint and you know it. I even tried to save you from the evil ghosties."

"I didn't need saving. They were holograms, remember?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know it at the time. We might not be friends, but I wasn't going to stand there and let Sadako or whatever it was eat you."

"How noble," Kaiba drawled, but there was less bite than usual.

Jounouchi grinned broadly. "I've made a career out of rescuing your ass, why stop here?"

Kaiba twisted his head to look at Jounouchi— his breath playing across the crown of Jounouchi's head. "How do you figure that?"

Jounouchi counted out the incidents on one hand and quickly ran out of fingers. "Like when Pegasus stole your soul, that time your company executives trapped you in a video game, Battle City, that freaky thing with Noah and your father, DOMA, your American tournament—"

"None of which you resolved on your own."

"Hey! I helped tons!"

"More like got in the way."

"Did not."

-x-x-x-

"Jounouchi-kun!"

He supposed they made a strange sight— he draped over the back of his supposedly worst enemy, who was missing a shirt sleeve. He waved as energetically as he could manage. "Hey guys."

Yuugi, Anzu, Bakura, Honda, and Otogi swarmed at them. For a moment, Jounouchi thought Kaiba would finally drop him flat on his ass. But he froze and remained as still as a statue while Jounouchi's friends fussed.

"Come on, give us some air. Where's everyone else?"

Anzu gnawed on her lower lip. "I sent them home first."

"Thank you for bringing Jounouchi-kun back, Kaiba-kun." Yuugi smiled at the taller boy.

Kaiba nodded stiffly in acknowledgment before handing Jounouchi off to Honda and Otogi, who carried him over to one of the few standing pews. "I'll go meet Dr. Mikage." With that, he went outside to join Mokuba, who'd they'd passed on the way in.

Jounouchi yelped when Otogi grabbed his foot and propped it on the back of the collapsed pew in front. "Hey hey! Gentle!"

"Sorry, Jounouchi, you need to keep that ankle elevated."

"You're a shit nurse."

Otogi had no retort, just smirked and tossed his ponytail over his shoulder.

Several minutes later, Kaiba and Mokuba strolled in with a stern-looking, middle-aged doctor on their tail. His lab coat was rumpled and he carried a old-fashioned doctor's bag. Jounouchi wouldn't have been surprised if he had rolled out of bed not long ago.

Stopping next to Jounouchi, the doctor adjusted his thick glasses and introduced himself. "I'm Doctor Mikage Tarou, the Kaiba family's concierge doctor. A pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, doc. You didn't have to call a doctor here, Kaiba."

Kaiba arched an eyebrow. "Hospitals are closed at this hour (2). Would you rather wait until tomorrow morning?"

Jounouchi glanced at his ankle and winced. It was swollen to the size of a softball. "I guess not. All yours, doc."

While the doctor worked, Jounouchi looked for something to distract him from his foot. Mokuba, who had changed out of his costume, hovered nearby with guiltiest puppy-dog expression. Jounouchi grabbed the younger boy and pulled him down to the pew next to him. Mokuba squirmed and protested as he ruffled the boy's longer hair. "I thought the hologram was realistic, but your costume and makeup hit it out of the park. I thought I was a goner."

"I'm sorry, Jounouchi," Mokuba apologized without meeting his eye. "You got hurt because of me."

"Cheer up, it's not that bad." The doctor shot him an annoyed look down the length of Jounouchi's leg. Jounouchi ignored him and peeked at Kaiba from the corner of his eye. "Your brother came in use for once."

"I should have left you out there."

"Blah blah blah," Jounouchi waved a hand dismissively. "Everyone knows your bark is worse than your bite."

Kaiba looked like he was sucking a lemon.

He laughed. It served Kaiba right after all those dog insults. He turned back to Mokuba and stage-whispered, "If your brother's not careful, people might start to think there's a half-decent guy buried under the ego."

Jounouchi watched as Kaiba pulled himself taller, and he met the other boy's imperious glare with a wide grin. Because to a twisted guy like Kaiba, a compliment like that was probably a thousand times worse than an insult.

"I'm going to take down the equipment," Kaiba declared as he marched toward the stairs to the tunnel. "Mokuba, tell the driver to take them home after the doctor is finished."

Yep, definitely a half-decent guy after all.

* * *

Thanks to darkmus for looking this over.

(1) 1LDK = Japanese real estate terminology for "one bedroom, living room, dining area, and kitchen"

(2) Compared to US hospitals, Japanese hospitals have comparably shorter operating hours. During the night, ERs operate on limited staff and usually accept only patients in critical condition. I am operating on the assumption that Jounouchi's sprained ankle would get him turned away from most hospitals and referred to emergency clinics, which are often closed by this time at night as well.


	2. Tour Guide From The Underworld

Thanks again to darkmus and M for betaing.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Tour Guide From The Underworld**

_August  
Obon brings Jounouchi to Sasebo for an awkward visit with his mother's family. Kaiba is the last person he expected to run into at the cemetery.  
_

* * *

He hobbled behind the rest of his family: his mother, Shizuka, an aunt and uncle, two cousins, and the old bat herself. Despite the courage test happening almost a month ago, Jounouchi's ankle wasn't fully healed yet. He was still wearing a brace to support the damn thing.

Shizuka glanced back and mouthed silently, "You okay?"

He waved her off, and readjusted his grip on the water pail. The old bat definitely had it in for him. There were six other perfectly able-bodied people, and yet she insisted he carry the water. It was like she was trying to make up for all the years he hadn't been around for her to torture for her convenience.

Time of joyous family reunion his ass. He should have never agreed to spend Obon with the Kawai family.

He glanced across the cramped rows of grave sites and cringed. So much for his precious last summer in high school; Jounouchi was having the worst luck so far. Up ahead, his family started to squeeze around a man and his young son kneeling to wipe down a headstone. As Jounouchi passed, he realized the man was probably too young to have a son that age. Then the older one turned his head in profile, showcasing a familiar pair of blue eyes and an arrogant upturn of a nose.

"Kaiba!" Jounouchi yelped and his bad leg slipped out from under him. What the hell was he doing in Sasebo?

"Katsuya!" His mother and sister screeched in unison.

Jounouchi squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the painful embrace between his butt and the ground. It never came, because a pair of strong hands caught him under the armpit. Water sloshed out of the pail and soaked the hem of his jeans. He dared to crane his neck back and found Kaiba's customary glare staring back.

At the head of their group, his grandmother scowled darkly and snarled, "Can't you do anything right?"

He clutched the handle to keep himself from hurling it at the hag's head. Kaiba tensed behind him, before hauling Jounouchi to his feet in an impressive show of strength. Jounouchi saw a chance to get away from his mother's family and he ran with it. Before Kaiba could let go of him completely, he slumped back, forcing Kaiba to support his full weight if he didn't want them both sprawled across the cemetery ground. He gestured to his bad leg and moaned, "My ankle."

Kaiba tightened his grip around Jounouchi's shoulder in warning. Smug bastard must have seen through his charade. Jounouchi waited for Kaiba to drop him and expose his fib. Instead, he lowered Jounouchi slowly and gently to seat him. Mokuba flew to their side, concern painted over every inch of his face. Kaiba pretended to give a cursory examination of the ankle before reporting, "It's tender. You should be fine if you rest for a few minutes."

"You can rest when we get to our destination. No need to bother this nice young man," Jounouchi's grandmother barked. She struck the end of her cane down, expecting him to heed like some dog.

Shizuka gently corrected her, "Grandma, he's not a stranger. He's one of Katsuya's friends from school."

Together, Jounouchi and Kaiba winced. Then they simultaneously broke eye contact with each other.

"Come on, mother," Jounouchi's mother took the older woman by the arm and started to lead her away. "We can go ahead. Katsuya will catch up once he's recovered, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!" he threw her a mock salute and passed the half-empty pail of water to Shizuka.

"Fine, but don't dally! You need to pay respects to your grandfather, you ungrateful grandson."

When the group started to walk away, Jounouchi stuck his tongue at the hag's retreating back.

"Jounouchi! How could you!" Mokuba exclaimed scandalously as he swatted Jounouchi's shoulder. As if he fooled anyone but Kaiba with his "I'm a perfect angel" act.

"She deserved it!" he protested, trying to protect his poor besmirched honor. "The miserable hag has been riding my ass all week."

Mokuba giggled.

"Language," Kaiba scolded before standing up. Predictably, he didn't offer Jounouchi a hand. "And don't use me as an excuse to ditch your family, you deadbeat."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes and climbed back to his feet. Mokuba's jaw dropped. He was the only one not to catch onto Jounouchi's act. He reached down and ruffle the kid's hair, but Mokuba dodged and fled behind Kaiba. Turning his attention to the older brother, he asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

"It's Obon, why is anyone at the cemetery this time of the year?" Kaiba gave him a look usually reserved for the most amateur of dueling mistakes. He nudged Mokuba back in the direction of the grave site. The younger boy retrieved the rag lying beside the headstone and dipped it into a bucket of water. He reverently scrubbed the stone surface. After another moment of watching, Kaiba knelt down by his brother and began cleaning as well.

Shit, Jounouchi wasn't hallucinating. The Kaiba brothers really were here for ohakamairi (1) like any normal person. But why was Kaiba Gozaburo buried so far from Domino City? And didn't big fancy corporations like Kaiba's have company graves at famous cemeteries like the one at Okunoin Temple? The headstone was composed of common granite, no different than any of the other nearby graves. It hinted at none of the Kaibas' vast wealth. Then he finally noticed the family name carved into the stone, which were not the characters for "seahorse" as he expected.

陽方家之墓  
The Higata Family Grave

Glancing over his shoulder to favor Jounouchi with an impossibly bland expression, Kaiba confirmed his burgeoning realization. "They're our birth parents."

Jounouchi squirmed, unable to shake the feeling that he was intruding on something intensely private. It was silly considering the cemetery was full of other families cleaning and leaving gifts at family graves. They were out in public, and Jounouchi couldn't be the only person to recognize the brothers as Kaibas. Hell, if Kaiba himself had a problem with it, he'd be the first to let Jounouchi know.

Further into the cemetery, his mother's family gathered around their destination. There were seven of them in the Kawai family, but only two Kaiba brothers.

"Do you guys want any help?" he asked hesitantly.

Surprise flickered across Kaiba's face before he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He let up when Mokuba ribbed him. "You can start on the weeds."

There was an unspoken "it's all you're good for," but Jounouchi brushed it off. He bent down and began ripping out the weeds around the grave. There were a lot, especially hidden behind the headstone. It suggested the site hadn't seen regular maintenance in some time. The silence began to bug him. Why weren't they talking? Jounouchi paused to prod a small white flower budding between the cracks in the flagstones. He'd leave that one alone.

He scooped up an armful of weeds and came around to the front again. "So you guys are originally from Sasebo? I would have never guessed."

Kaiba said nothing as he moved onto his next task, unwrapping a bouquet of bright yellow chrysanthemums.

Mokuba shrugged before answering, "Only Nii-sama remembers anything about living here. I only remember bits and pieces. Most of my childhood memories start at the orphanage."

"That's tough, kid," Jounouchi winced.

He never got comfortable with what little knowledge about their past he had gleaned from Noa's virtual world. Even thinking about it now made Jounouchi feel like a voyeur. It was easier to pretend not to know— to pretend Kaiba had always been this cold bastard since the day he was born. But seeing them, here and now, forced Jounouchi to acknowledge otherwise.

"So why are you here, Jounouchi?" Mokuba asked.

Bless the younger Kaiba for offering a distraction from those pesky thoughts. Given the choice, Jounouchi would rather talk about himself. Only Kaiba could make Jounouchi's family situation look uncomplicated by comparison. "My mom, Shizuka, and the rest of her family all live here."

Mokuba thoughtfully screwed his eyebrows together. "You live in Domino though."

"Yeah, it happens when your parents are divorced."

"Oh," Mokuba looked down at the ground with a chagrined expression. "I wondered why we never saw your sister again after Battle City."

Despite how relatively close Domino and Sasebo were, they never saw each other as much as they hoped. Shizuka was a career exam student, and Jounouchi worked part-time jobs to pay for his school fees. There was rarely enough times except over long holidays. For that, he had always envied the Kaiba brothers and their closeness.

He deposited the pulled weeds in the plastic bag that Kaiba handed him and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. "I should go back over there before the old hag throws another fit. Uh, later, Kaiba, Mokuba."

"See you soon, Jounouchi," Mokuba called after him. Jounouchi doubted they would though.

Kaiba looked up with unreadable eyes, then nodded his head in a dismissive manner. Jounouchi counted his blessings when no scathing comment accompanied the dismissal.

As Jounouchi walked away, he tested the feel of the hypothetical on his tongue, "Higata Seto," he frowned and repeated the name with a different emphasis. "Higata Seto, Higata. Seto."

He shook his head. It didn't sound right at all. It didn't carry any of the force of will that defined Kaiba. The only Kaiba he knew was Kaiba Seto. Jounouchi decided to file today's incident way back in his mental cabinet. No doubt, Kaiba would also prefer he never mention it again, and Jounouchi was happy to oblige.

-x-x-x-

After an agonizing family dinner, Jounouchi couldn't wait to escape his mother's house. Suffocating was the word he'd use to describe the experience. Making nice with distant relatives was not a skill he had nurtured growing up. For better or for worse, it had always been just him and his dad. The constant background noise of his grandmother berating his general lack of manners grated like nails on a chalkboard. If she was anyone else, Jounouchi would have told her where to shove those manners a long time ago. But for his mother and sister's sake, he did his best to emulate Kaiba and let the unrelenting criticism roll off his back.

He and Shizuka made their escape to "run errands" when their grandmother retired to hold court with her children in the living room. Their mother sent them off with a smile and a warning to be home by 10 pm. Shizuka instantly took to the role of tour guide, pointing out landmarks like her best friend's house and the local Lawsons. Moments like this highlighted the differences between their childhoods after the divorce. Jounouchi lived in a tiny apartment on the dumpy side of Domino surrounded by light and noise, while Shizuka's quiet neighborhood resembled Anzu's and Bakura's on the edge of Domino. It was a nice place to visit for a short while, but Jounouchi couldn't imagine living it.

They wandered the streets lined with modest houses, chatting about everything and nothing. Shizuka kept up with the gang in Domino on her own time, so Jounouchi didn't need to fill her in on recent news except for last month's courage test.

Shizuka gasped and clasped a hand to her mouth. "Mokuba-kun did that?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't believe how terrifying the little shit was. I ran around like an idiot for a while and that's how I ended up twisting my ankle," Jounouchi smiled self-deprecatingly and glanced down at his brace. The doctor said he would only need another two weeks if he didn't overextend himself in the meanwhile.

She giggled, "Honestly, Onii-chan, I can't believe you're still scared of ghost stories. We're not elementary school kids anymore."

"Ah, but you haven't seen the things I have." Although he was joking with her, it came from a place of truth. Jounouchi knew for a fact that the dead could continue to haunt the living, whether it was through magic or technology. Given that, why shouldn't he be open to the possibility of ghosts?

Speak of the devil...

He yanked Shizuka out of the road and behind a nearby post. She squeaked and protested, before falling silent after he shot her a quick glare. With his body pressed against the metal pole, he snuck a look around the curve and cursed his luck. Still tucked against his side, Shizuka peered around him and made a pleased noise.

"Isn't that Kaiba-san and Mokuba-kun?" she asked.

Sure enough, it was the Kaiba brothers dressed as they were earlier at the cemetery, except Kaiba had the sleeves of his button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows and he was holding a shopping bag from Lawsons in one hand. Mokuba kept pace at his side, talking animatedly while looking between his brother and his cellphone. They were coming down from the opposite end of the road, and Jounouchi couldn't believe he didn't notice them until now. Fuck, why'd they have to look so normal all of a sudden? Back in Domino, Jounouchi would have spotted them from a mile away.

Shizuka tugged on his sleeve. "Are we going to say hi, Onii-chan?"

"Hell no," he muttered to himself. He had his fill of Kaiba for the day.

But thankfully, the two brothers slipped into a nearby house. Jounouchi kept Shizuka at his side, waiting for the Kaibas to re-emerge onto the street. The seconds ticked by at a perilously slow pace, but neither Kaiba nor Mokuba reappeared. Releasing Shizuka, they continued back down the road until they reached the house in question. The curtains were drawn over the front window and there was no name plaque next to the door, but a lit lantern sat by the front door to welcome the departed home. Shizuka crept closer to the front gate for a better view, which creaked when she leaned against it. They both jumped in surprise, and Jounouchi had Shizuka thrown over one shoulder when the front door swung open.

They all froze in place— Jounouchi with Shizuka in a fireman's hold and Mokuba in the doorway. Mokuba broke the stalemate first, shaking his head in disbelief and turning to yell further at the inside of the house. "Nii-sama, I told you it was Jounouchi," then beckoning them with one hand, Mokuba said, "Come in please."

He left the front door ajar as an invitation.

Shizuka swatted Jounouchi across the shoulder and hopped off before he could drop her. She rocketed through the gate and the front door, leaving Jounouchi in the street. He girded his loins and reluctantly followed her inside. He was doing it to keep an eye on his sister. Not because he was curious about Kaiba or anything... He shut the door upon entering and took several moments to undo his shoelaces. He added his ratty sneakers next to the growing line of shoes on the other side of the threshold. The voices led him down the hallway into the first room on his left, a sparsely decorated living room.

"Onii-chan, come sit down!" Shizuka patted on the cushion next to her.

Kaiba was nowhere in sight, and Mokuba was bouncing excitedly up and down on the balls of his feet.

Jounouchi remained in the doorway. "Shizuka, I dunno if we should just barge into someone else's home like this—"

Mokuba cut off him with a patented Kaiba glare. "This is my house and you were invited."

"Wow, that's amazing, Mokuba-kun!" Shizuka cooed. "You're a homeowner at such a young age."

Unable to bear the sight of Mokuba puffing his chest like a male bird, Jounouchi slapped a hand over his face. His life was a strange, strange thing. Only in his world was it perfectly acceptable and expected for a twelve-year-old to legally own a house in Sasebo— as long as he was named Kaiba Mokuba. In the meanwhile, Mokuba took the seat next to Shizuka on the loveseat, regaling her with details about his furniture choices. Jounouchi resigned himself to the couch facing them.

Once seated, he glanced around the room a second time. It was devoid of the photos and other personal touches usually found in family homes like this one. He remembered passing two understated landscape pictures in the hall. Then he noticed the picture far on the end table at the other side of the sofa. He slid over and picked it up. The photo inside depicted an attractive couple in their mid-twenties clad in Shinto wedding garb. The man was tall, probably taller than Jounouchi, with a thin, athletic build. The woman was about a head shorter than her husband. Something about their postures and the shape of their faces nagged at Jounouchi.

Then it hit him like a lightning strike, and he nearly dropped the frame. They must be the Higatas, Kaiba and Mokuba's birth parents. Kaiba was a dead ringer for his birth father. Jounouchi might have realized sooner if the idea of a genuine smile on Kaiba's face wasn't so foreign.

Jounouchi put it back down right before Kaiba re-entered the room. With a tea tray. He gripped the sofa arm to keep from falling over in shock. As Kaiba set down the tray, he glared and dared Jounouchi to say anything. Jounouchi wisely kept his mouth shut.

Kaiba sat down on the opposite end from Jounouchi and began sullenly sipping from his chosen mug. Mokuba swooped in to serve Jounouchi, Shizuka, and himself. Which was fine. Because Jounouchi might have a legit heart-attack if Kaiba tried to offer him tea. As their siblings conversed, he and Kaiba were stranded on their own personal island of awkward silence, not drinking their respective tea and coffee.

Trying to act nonchalant, Jounouchi lifted his mug to his lips and said, "This is a nice place. Was it your parents'?"

Kaiba turned his head so fast that Jounouchi felt sympathy for his neck, before narrowing his eyes and glaring. Jounouchi kept his posture loose and expression open. He didn't mean any insult by it. Slowly, the suspicion bled from Kaiba's expression, although a hint of wariness remained. "It belonged to them many years ago," Kaiba admitted.

Jounouchi glanced at the other boy out of the corner of his eyes, matching Kaiba's features to the man pictured in the wedding photo. Today, the universe seemed hell-bent on exposing him to sides of Kaiba he had never considered. The Kaiba he knew didn't do sentimental. The Kaiba he knew, who rejected his past so vehemently through the course of Battle City, didn't seem like the type to purchase old family homes so that he could be there to welcome back the spirits of dead relatives. Jounouchi wanted to know more— to know why. But he also he knew better than to ask.

"Nii-sama, Shizuka asked if we wanted to go with them to the lantern ceremony tomorrow night!" Mokuba squealed.

Jounouchi clutched his mug tighter to keep from dropping it. When he sent a questioning look at his sister, she shrugged in response. He sighed and resigned himself to more time spent with the Kaibas. He turned his gaze back toward Kaiba, who seemed to be locked in a silent conversation with his younger brother. Then it occurred to Jounouchi that just as he often capitulated to Shizuka, Kaiba did the same for Mokuba. Last month, the concession was the courage test. This month, that concession may have been a house and Obon in Sasebo.

"If that's what you want to do," Kaiba conceded graciously.

Jounouchi stayed quiet and drank his tea, while Mokuba and Shizuka traded email addresses and phone numbers.

-x-x-x-

Jounouchi and his family arrived at Sasebo River about an hour before sunset. They made their way down to the riverbank to find a comfortable spot for Jounouchi's grandmother to sit. Once they were settled, his mother gave Jounouchi and Shizuka a separate basket of snacks she'd prepared and shooed them off to meet their friends. Even his grandmother didn't give him the usual stink-eye when they excused themselves.

Jounouchi and Shizuka traveled further upstream of the river, toward the Albuquerque Bridge where they were supposed to meet the Kaibas. He was slightly surprised by the number of foreigners he spotted in the early evening crowd. Then Shizuka reminded him about the nearby American naval base in Nimitz Park. The bridge was overrun with other families and spectators watching the paper lanterns drift by.

When they finally spotted the Kaibas in the crowd, Jounouchi's jaw dropped. Kaiba and Mokuba were each wearing summer yukatas. They weren't the only people dressed up for the ceremony, but Jounouchi might have missed them if Shizuka hadn't pointed them out.

"Mokuba-kun! You should have told me you were wearing yukatas. I would have worn mine and we would have matched!" Shizuka scolded good-naturedly. The she sent a sly look at Jounouchi, which he instantly recognized.

He threw up both hands to ward her off. "Oh no, you are not using me as an excuse to play dress up."

Kaiba tilted his head to the side as he considered Jounouchi, "You might actually clean up well, bonkotsu." His eyes were hooded against the backdrop of dusk.

Jounouchi wasn't sure if Kaiba was insulting or complimenting him, probably some strange mixture of both. Mokuba made room by the railing and invited Shizuka closer to get a better view. As the sky above grew darker, the light from the lanterns on the river's surface grew brighter. Soon, the water's surface reflected the hundreds of lanterns out into the horizon.

"There's ours," Mokuba pointed to one of a dozen nearly identical lanterns floating toward the bridge. There was a note of longing in his voice that tugged at Jounouchi's heartstrings and made him want to hug the younger boy. The knowledge of whose souls were being ferried by the lantern haunted Jounouchi. The lantern soon vanished under the bridge and out of sight.

Also sensing Mokuba's reluctance, Shizuka suggested, "We can follow it downstream for a while longer."

Mokuba looked up at Kaiba, who nodded swiftly in agreement. The four of them set off from the bridge, tracking the lantern's final journey down the river and toward the sea. Mokuba and Shizuka led the way in front, while Kaiba and Jounouchi fell into place behind them. In the distance, Jounouchi could hear the firecrackers accompanying the procession of spirit boats. They had passed a few of those on the way over in the car.

Still trudging with the basket from his mother, Jounouchi fell behind the other three. But it gave him the opportunity to study his three companions. Shizuka, now in her last year of junior high, seemed to mature every time Jounouchi turned his back. He swore he was ready to have a heart attack with each visit. Mokuba was still a whole head shorter than Shizuka, but he walked as if he was twice his height. If Kaiba was any indication, Mokuba was going to grow like a weed when he finally hit his growth spurt. Towering over both of them was Kaiba, his willowy frame further emphasized by the slim cut of the yukata. He walked straight-backed and smoothly in his wooden sandals, which Jounouchi considered a feat because he'd rather wear high heels than those awful getas.

Jounouchi felt like he had fallen into some weird, Twilight Zone shit.

They walked for another several blocks before stopping in a park by the riverside. Mokuba practically hung over the railing, watching the paper lantern until it became indistinguishable from the other dots of lights vanishing into the horizon. Shizuka and Jounouchi hung back as Kaiba pulled his brother back and spoke quietly into his ears. Mokuba nodded, then wrapped both arms around his brother's neck. Kaiba returned the hug without complaint. The sight caused an unfamiliar sensation in Jounouchi's chest— tight and prickly.

"Let's see what Okaa-san gave us," Shizuka turned away from the Kaibas and sat down on a nearby bench.

Jounouchi joined her, and they dug into the basket. Inside, there were several cans of soda and a large box of rice balls and some fried chicken. The rest of the contents gave Jounouchi pause though.

"Did she seriously pack fireworks with the food?" Jounouchi exclaimed.

Shizuka laughed, "Of course, this is Nagasaki. Obon wouldn't be complete without some explosions. Give them here."

She snatched up several strings of sparklers, a pinwheel firework, the candle, and a matchbook. Jounouchi, on the other hand, was more interested in the food. Mokuba's face immediately lit up, chasing away the last vestiges of his melancholy when he looked to Kaiba for permission. Jounouchi sat back and watched as Kaiba ran through a safety lecture. Mokuba listened with an eager and rapt expression, while Shizuka grew more and more impatient. She was too polite to point out that she already knew the finer points of firework safety.

"Give it a rest, old man Kaiba!" Jounouchi heckled around a mouth full of rice and received an eleven-point death glare for his troubles.

Kaiba stayed to supervise them lighting their first fireworks. Illuminated by the light of the sparklers, his face appeared both too young and too old. Kaiba, who had always prided himself on standing apart from others, looked displaced in his commoner's clothing, babysitting his brother and Jounouchi's sister. It was just too damn normal looking.

Sometimes, Jounouchi wondered if Domino City existed in its own pocket universe separate from Japan and the rest of the world. In Domino, Kaiba and his corporation reigned supreme. Silly things like city ordinances went poof as soon as he declared he wanted to host a gaming tournament. Kaiba couldn't go anywhere without turning heads and probably people flinging themselves at his shiny boots like he was some god. In Domino, Kaiba Seto was untouchable. But in Sasebo, there were times when Kaiba Seto didn't seem one bit like_ Kaiba Seto_. He was softer than the harsh angles of his cheekbones might suggest, and even the way he spoke seemed gentler. The light cast over him was less the unforgiving glare of limelight, but a more gentle illumination provided by lantern light. It was as if different realities had crossed wired, and Jounouchi was staring at the afterimage of the ghost of some other boy— maybe one named Higata Seto.

But a more likely explanation was that aliens had abducted Kaiba and replaced him with a doppelganger. Either that or Kaiba got a software upgrade and his creators decided to dial back the asshole factor in the new version. Maybe it was the novelty of seeing Kaiba in a honest-to-god yukata. At least it wasn't a Blue Eyes-patterned yukata— Kaiba was trying to maintain a low profile apparently.

Jounouchi cackled suddenly. Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at him— Shizuka and Mokuba in shock, and Kaiba with deep, full-faced disapproval.

"Onii-chan?" Shizuka asked with worry.

Grabbing two of the fountain fireworks from the basket, Jounouchi stood and declared, "It's nothing. Forget those small ones, let's set off some of the big ones Mom gave us!"

Kaiba's eyes widened in alarm, and Jounouchi laughed harder.

-x-x-x-

Like a flash in a pan, they ran through their small arsenal in less than half an hour. Shizuka blamed him for setting off a row of fountain fireworks at once, which Jounouchi figured the ancestors might appreciate a 21-gun salute for their departure.

Smelling like smoke and gunpowder, Jounouchi collapsed on the grass near where Kaiba was squatting, the hem of his yukata hiked up to reveal his bare feet and bony ankles. The last incense firework stick dangled loosely between Kaiba's long fingers. The glowing tip reminded Jounouchi of a lit cigarette, and he squashed the sudden craving for a smoke with a piece of chewing gum from his pocket.

Shizuka and Mokuba chased fireflies by the riverside as the last of the night's ceremonial lanterns drifted by. Jounouchi watched them for a few seconds, before turning his attention back to the incense firework. Thin tendrils of red light arched through the air around the tip, like the roots of a tree or tiny bolts of lightning. It crackled softly, barely audible over their siblings' laughter and the firecrackers still going off in the distance.

"Tonight was fun," Jounouchi surprised himself with how much he meant it. "I'm glad you and Mokuba were able to make it."

The dark made it difficult to see exactly what expression Kaiba wore, but Jounouchi could make out the relaxed slump of his shoulders. "I appreciate you including Mokuba."

"No problem. God knows the kid needs it. You guys probably don't do normal people stuff a lot." Using his arm as a pillow, he flopped over to face Kaiba.

With eyes trained on Mokuba, Kaiba's posture stiffened a fraction. "No, we don't."

Jounouchi would have to be blind to not see how far out of his comfort zone Kaiba currently was. He licked his lips nervously, then said, "Well, you did good. That's why you brought Mokuba all the way out here?"

The Obon holiday, their parents' house, the yukatas, and the lantern ceremony— Kaiba must have intended to give Mokuba the illusion of normality, something that Kaiba himself had no need for. But Mokuba was probably the opposite and craved it on occasion. Kaiba's absolute devotion to Mokuba was never something Jounouchi called into question, not since Kaiba threatened to step off the rampart of Pegasus' castle if he lost that next turn. But it was nice to know that it wasn't contingent only on life-and-death situations— that Kaiba was capable of the little things (little for him anyway) and giving Mokuba a sense of security outside their crazy world of high-stakes card games and potentially world-ending magic.

Then Jounouchi joked, "See? It's not so bad for us small fries."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "You act as if I was always born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had a childhood once too."

Jounouchi fake-gasped. "You lie!"

Kaiba looked back and forth between him and the firework in his hand, probably wondering if he could use it to somehow set Jounouchi on fire. Jounouchi, on the other hand, was happy he wasn't holding something more potentially lethal. With a sigh, Kaiba extinguished the firework and sat down on the ground. From his position, Jounouchi saw Kaiba wiggle his toes and dig them into the grass. He filed the image away. For what purpose? Jounouchi might never be able to say why.

"Mokuba was three when our mother died. Our father died two years later. It's no wonder he doesn't remember much about them," Kaiba explained, but Jounouchi suspected he wasn't as neutral as he tried to act. "But he's now old enough to realize what he missed and old enough to desire closure. This is best I can give him."

"And what about you?" Jounouchi asked, knowing he was toeing a dangerous line. "Did you ever get closure?"

"I don't need it."

That would remain the truth for as long as Kaiba convinced himself of that. It wasn't Jounouchi's job to save him from his self-delusions.

Kaiba stood and smoothed out his yukata, signaling the end of the conversation. "Mokuba, we should go back now," he called.

Mokuba protested, "Five more minutes please, Nii-sama!"

"Now, Mokuba!"

That seemed to do the trick. Mokuba and Shizuka slowly trudged back towards them. Jounouchi checked his watch. It was time for him and Shizuka to find the rest of their family. Still, he understood their younger siblings' reluctance. He was strangely reticent to let the night end. The idea of more time in Kaiba's company didn't repulse him. It was more like a small splinter already stuck under his skin, but not long enough to trigger any nerve endings. What would it feel like to enjoy Kaiba's company like Mokuba did?

But did Kaiba feel the same way?

"Hey, Kaiba, do you think that things would have turned out differently if our pasts were different?" Jounouchi sprang to his feet and dusted the grass from his jeans.

Kaiba turned his head and looked suspiciously at him. "What do you mean?"

Jounouchi stuck both hands into his pocket and shrugged. "Like if I went with my mom and sister after the divorce and if your parents were still alive? We'd probably all live here instead of Domino. Like maybe we could have even be friends?"

What would have happened if their first conversation hadn't been at the Turtle Game Shop in the presence of the last Blue Eyes White Dragon that Kaiba had sought like a madman?

Kaiba furrowed his brow, almost as if he didn't understand the question. "There's no point in wondering about the what ifs, Jounouchi. We are who we are."

Ah, that's right. In the end, he was still Jounouchi and Kaiba was still Kaiba.

-x-x-x-

Today, Shizuka was out with her school friends. Though she invited him along, Jounouchi knew an obligatory invite when he saw one and declined. His grandmother also went somewhere with his mother, leaving him home alone. Too bad he was bored out of his mind. Even his summer homework, untouched thus far, was beginning to look tempting.

Then an idea hit him— possibly dangerous, but still infinitely better than doing homework. Jounouchi put on his sneakers and locked the house behind him. He had to backtrack several times due to his unfamiliarity with the neighborhood. Eventually, he found the street with Kaibas' house. Passing the town car with tinted windows idling in the road, Jounouchi jogged up to the front door and rang the bell.

A poker-faced man in a black suit answered the door. "Can I help you, sir?" he asked.

"Uh, I was looking for Kaiba Mokuba."

In response, the man narrowed his eyes and moved to block the doorway with the bulk of his weight. "I'm sorry, sir, but you must have the wrong—"

Suddenly, Kaiba's clear command rang out from inside. "Leave it, Hiroshi. Take our bags out to the car."

"Yes, Seto-sama." The bodyguard moved to reveal Kaiba standing behind him. He grasped the luggage and squeezed around Jounouchi to exit the house with one last warning glance.

Gone were the casual outfits of the last two days. Today, Kaiba was suited up in his usual armor: flared trench coat, arm bracers, and leather straps. How was it that this Kaiba, the Kaiba that Jounouchi had known for years, seemed foreign now? The distance between them and their statuses stretched into an unbridgeable gulf.

Jounouchi swallowed his apprehension and asked, "You guys are leaving already?"

"The holidays are now over. I need to get back to work." Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh..." He felt his face fall, disappointment flooded his system.

Kaiba frowned. "I would have thought you'd be happy to hear the news, bonkotsu."

The insult was like a punch in the guts, but Jounouchi knew how to roll with the hits. "Shizuka will be sad to hear you guys left without saying goodbye."

"I'm sure Mokuba will relay his farewells directly to her. But that's not why you're disappointed."

He opened his mouth to argue, then decided against it. "We almost got along here. Kinda sucks that we have to go back to the way we were back in Domino."

Kaiba stared at him, and he shrugged in return. What was the point in lying? Kaiba would mock him for whatever reason he could get his hands on. Unfolding his arms, Kaiba stepped up to the door where Jounouchi stood frozen. "Remember what I said yesterday. There's no use dwelling on what could have been. I will never be Higata Seto. I will never be ordinary like you. And I will never be your friend, Jounouchi. Not in the way that you and Yuugi want."

Jounouchi winced. That was less of a slap and more like a knife between his ribs.

Kaiba continued, "At the same time, there's also no reason why we have to go back to exactly how we were before. You have your uses, as mundane and as common as they might be. Your dueling might even be considered second-rate, rather than third."

"What the hell are you saying?" Anger prickled under his skin.

"I'm proposing a truce. For the duration of our remaining time in school, we will endeavor not to antagonize each other to minimize any unnecessary drama. All you have to do is remember what I said just now."

Forget Kaiba's past, forget his vulnerability, and forget their almost camaraderie— all of which Jounouchi found to be an unexpectedly tall order. "And what about afterwards?" he challenged.

"After what? Graduation? We're unlikely to see each other after graduation, wouldn't you say?" Kaiba regarded him coolly and confidently. "It's an olive branch, Jounouchi. Take it as I am unlikely to offer another."

Jounouchi tossed the proposal around his head, bits and pieces of it getting stuck to the inner walls. He didn't doubt that this was Kaiba's one and only offer. As hollow as it felt, it was better than nothing. To be able to spend the rest of his (last) school year without worrying about Kaiba picking fights and arguments wouldn't be so bad. "You'll stop calling me bonkotsu and all that other stuff?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "It was implied."

"Okay, deal! You're not going to make me sign a contract or something?"

The pounding footsteps heralding Mokuba's arrival almost drowned out Kaiba's next words. "I trust you'll be a man of your words, Jounouchi."

* * *

(1) Ohakamairi (grave visits) are a staple of the Obon holidays where families will visit and clean deceased relatives' graves

Obon is the summer festival that welcomes back the spirits of ancestors who visit their old homes once a way. In the Kanto region (Tokyo etc.), it is celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar around July 15th. Most of Japan, however, celebrates it in August, between the 13th and 15th. Due to the fact that it falls during school holidays, it is also a peak travel time and many people treat it as a family reunion holiday.

Sasebo is a small city in the Nagasaki prefecture to the northwest of Nagasaki city proper. Spirit boat processions and firecrackers/fireworks are a regional specificity of celebrating Obon in Nagasaki.


	3. Treaty on Uniform Nomenclature

Thanks to M and darkmus for looking this over.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Treaty on Uniform Nomenclature**

_September/October  
Kaiba builds walls, and Jounouchi knocks them down. Lather, rinse, and repeat.  
_

* * *

A change in the seating arrangements accompanied their return to school. Everyone drew their new spot from a hat. Kaiba remained more or less where he always sat, but Jounouchi moved from the far side of the room to the spot immediately in front of him. The rest of the class took and held a collective breath as Jounouchi dragged his desk over.

Their eyes met briefly, but they held their tongues. Their detente was still in effect. Several classmates seemed disappointed when no argument broke out though.

Throughout that first week, Yuugi occasionally glanced back with worry evident in his baby face. Kaiba answered each concerned look with a glare until Yuugi finally stopped. It was still better than staring at the back of Jounouchi's head for hours on end. Which Kaiba didn't and tried not to do, except for when he did. As long as Jounouchi sat in front of him, there was no changing the fact that he sat between Kaiba and the notes on the blackboard.

He also quickly learned that Jounouchi had a lot of hair, and he shed everywhere like an overgrown sheepdog. Did he even brush his hair in the morning? Every time Jounouchi scratched his head in confusion, which was often, Kaiba envisioned a cloud of fur brewing over his desk. As he plucked a golden strand from his uniform sleeve one night, he began regretting their truce.

Said truce became their new equilibrium— a newborn thing fraught with a strange tensions and skating glances. It was uncomfortable and awkward, but they both persisted. Probably because they were both stubborn. Whoever broke it first would be branded the loser in their latest contest of will, and Kaiba didn't intend to lose.

Though it didn't stop Jounouchi from regularly throwing mistrustful looks when he thought Kaiba wasn't paying attention. Kaiba did notice them, along with how Jounouchi hunched low across his desk like some prey animal bracing for the inevitable attack from a predator. At first, he ignored it. But as weeks passed, Jounouchi showed no sign of relinquishing his suspicions. Each sneaking peek lodged another splinter in Kaiba's psyche until his nerve transformed into a festering sore. He wanted to kick Jounouchi between the chairs and hiss, "Stop it." He quashed the urge, past the pit of his stomach and into the soles of his feet. He always got those sorts of childish urges around Jounouchi— that was nothing new.

The tipping point arrived one morning in October. Along with his classmates, Kaiba stared when Jounouchi stumbled late into the first class with a bruise marring half his face. The teacher threw out a stern glare as Jounouchi slumped into his seat with a muttered apology. But Isono's increasingly alarming emails kept Kaiba preoccupied all morning, giving him little time to consider the gossip being spread around him.

"Jounouchi must be in trouble again."

"Didn't you know? He used to be in a gang."

"I hear his dad hits him sometimes."

By lunchtime, it became clear that the situation at the company required Kaiba's personal attention. As he began packing his belongings to leave early, Jounouchi sprang from his chair, marched to the front of the classroom with both hands buried deep in his pocket, and barked, "Listen up, assholes!"

Half of the class jolted in surprise.

Jounouchi swept a glower across the room, but none of it was directed at his friends, and strangely enough, Kaiba. "Don't think I don't hear you guys whispering behind my back. So lemme set the record straight right now. I got this," he pointed at his bruised cheek. "From some punks making trouble at my part-time job. If I was fighting anyone again, you'd know, because if I ever hear any of you talk shit about my dad like some of you did today, it'll be you. Got it?" He punctuated his threat with a last, fierce glare— several students developed an intense and newly-acquired interest in their books and bentos. Jounouchi then stalked back to his desk.

Yuugi and the others predictably swarmed him afterwards.

"What happened, Jounouchi-kun?" Yuugi asked.

Kaiba paused in the middle of packing while Jounouchi explained, "Some punks tried to lift stuff from the store where I work as the night cashier. I ran them off, but they must have recognized me or seen me around. They jumped me this morning, took my book bag and all 2000 yen to my name."

"You should report them to the police," Mazaki said as she furrowed her brow. She was predictable if nothing else.

Jounouchi shrugged. "Nah, it's not worth it. You know my history. The cops'll think I was starting something. I'm getting paid later this week, so I'll be able to replace my books next week. Hey, Honda, can I borrow your notes later?"

Though his back was turned to him, Kaiba could see the nonchalant expression that Jounouchi wore. But the way Jounouchi held his body told another story. It may not be something that Kaiba paid special attention to, but he wasn't blind to Jounouchi's financial situation, which was tight judging by his clothing's ratty condition and the necessity of a part-time job.

The phone in Kaiba's pocket buzzed, urgently prompting him to move. In his hand were the textbooks for their afternoon classes: literature and Japanese history, two of Kaiba's least favorite subjects. He snapped his metal briefcase closed, and the noise startled the small group in front of him. When he stood, scraping his chair legs across the floor, they turned to face him.

"Yuugi, tell the teachers that I left early due to business." It was a system that worked well for them. The teachers couldn't scold Yuugi for Kaiba's truancy, and they couldn't say that Kaiba didn't give notice. Jounouchi narrowed his eyes— he obviously thought Kaiba was taking advantage of Yuugi. Which Kaiba was, but Yuugi was more than happy to oblige. Kaiba hefted his suitcase, and meeting Jounouchi's gaze straight on, he laid the literature and Japanese history textbooks on the surface of his desk before walking away.

"You forgot your books!" Jounouchi called, voice tight and words suddenly strangled.

Contrary to popular belief, Kaiba was no stranger to charity. He just preferred to act under the cover of anonymity— where he never had to see the recipients face-to-face.

"I'm leaving for the day, I have no use for this afternoon's textbook," he explained as if he was speaking to a small child. His phone buzzed again, this time notifying him of an incoming call. He turned and exited the room.

-x-x-x-

Unfortunately, the complications at the company transformed into a headache and a near PR nightmare. Much to his teachers' chagrin, he missed the next week of classes as a result. On his first day back, the homeroom teacher called him into teachers' office for a "chat." Kaiba's numerous absences had always been a point of contention between the school administration and himself. He bore the lecture with a politely blank face and promised to make up the missed homework.

The last thing Kaiba needed afterwards was a classmate ambushing him outside that exact office.

"You haven't signed up for the duty roster yet, Kaiba-kun."

"I beg your pardon?" Kaiba growled, having used up his reserves of patience with the teacher.

Much like Yuugi, Bakura was unfazed by Kaiba's moods or threats. But unlike Yuugi, he didn't humor Kaiba with an apologetic smile. Bakura frowned— a hint of impatience tugged at the corner of his eyes. "For the culture festival, Kaiba-kun. It's in two weeks and you haven't signed up for a shift. Everyone has been understanding about your outstanding commitments, but you need to contribute to the class booth too."

Kaiba wracked his brain. Last year's cultural festival fell during his extended stay in America, so he had been mercifully spared. That's right, the class voted on what to do right before the summer break: a haunted house. Bakura, with his self-professed love of the occult, volunteered to spearhead the effort. Kaiba had steadfastly ignored the students' preparations over the last month and a half, thinking no one would possibly try to force him to participate. Evidently, he misjudged Bakura's tenacity, a quality that Kaiba had mistakenly attributed to the other Bakura.

"I don't have time—"

"Six hours," Bakura interrupted. "Commit to six hours over the festival weekend. That's all you need to agree to. Otherwise, I'll talk to Kinoshita-sensei about making alternative arrangements for your participation."

Kaiba sneered. "Blackmail is unbecoming of you."

Bakura smiled slyly. He swept a calculating gaze up and down Kaiba's body, unnervingly reminiscent of the dark spirit that should no longer possess him. "Whatever it takes to make my project a success."

"Fine, but don't forget I have the power to ban you from all future Duel Monsters tournaments."

Bakura clapped his hands together, face breaking into a wide grin. "Don't worry, Kaiba-kun, you won't have to do much."

-x-x-x-

Kaiba found both textbooks in his desk with nary a scratch on the covers. His only clue that Jounouchi had cracked them open were the strands of fine gold sandwiched between several pages.

Jounouchi never thanked him, and Kaiba preferred it that way.

-x-x-x-

His birthday marked the Tuesday before the cultural festival. The day started with an exuberant birthday greeting from Mokuba and the promise of a home-cooked meal and cake for dinner— though the cake would be more for Mokuba's sake than his own. Kaiba preferred to celebrate privately with his little brother

Going to school was a mistake though. Kaiba knew he had fans at school. On the most part, they were content to admire him from a distance. Occasionally, a particularly stupid girl felt compelled to confess, but responding with a scathing rejection always kept the rest of them at bay. The fact that he also skipped the vast majority of his second year served to further minimize any unnecessary interactions in that area. But as soon as he set foot on school grounds that day, something in the air changed— like letting blood into shark-infested waters. Except Kaiba wasn't the shark for once, and a portion of the female student population watched him the same covetous intent that Kaiba reserved for rare cards.

He entered homeroom a few steps ahead of Jounouchi and stopped dead in the aisle when he saw the pile of pastel packages sitting on top of his desk.

Behind him, Jounouchi groaned and groused, "Is it already that time of the year again?"

Without tearing his eyes off the stack of delicately wrapped presents, he asked, "You know what this is about?"

Jounouchi brushed past him and dropped his book bag, a different ratty one from the one he used to carry, on his own desk. Then he picked up a small box decorated with hearts and stars. Near the front of the room, a female classmate, whose name escaped Kaiba, visibly bit back a snarl.

With a smirk, Jounouchi explained, "These are called presents. Someone made or bought something and wrapped—"

"Yes, but what are they doing on my desk?" Kaiba snapped.

"It's your birthday today, right? Your fans," Jounouchi gagged. "Are showing their appreciation or something. You weren't here last year cuz you were in America, but they practically built a shrine to you. It kept growing until the teachers finally got rid of it somehow."

Kaiba dimly recalled an email from Haruhi, his executive assistant in Japan, about a shipment of gifts last November. He told her to open them, to salvage what could be donated, and to trash what remained. He approached his seat, resisting the urge to sweep everything to the floor. Coming to school was enough of a nuisance without cleaning up someone else's mess. The last thing Kaiba wanted was to encourage more situations like this.

He swept up the armful of gifts, several of which jingled cheerfully as he crossed the room, and deposited them in the trash can. Several gasps and sobs broke across the room. Kaiba turned and dared the other students to challenge him.

With a shuttered expression, Jounouchi growled, "You're one cold-hearted bastard, Kaiba." Both hands were clenched into tight fists, skin drawn taut and white over his knuckles.

Maybe this was the point where Jounouchi might break down and break their truce?

Fixing a bored expression in place, Kaiba delivered the final blow. "I have no use for empty gestures from cowards who are too afraid to face me directly."

-x-x-x-

Too bad his words had the opposite effect from what he intended. During morning break between their math and phys-ed class, one girl, the same one that snarled at Jounouchi earlier, fished her present out of the bin. Her hands shook as she extended it to Kaiba and said, "Please accept this, Kaiba-san."

He met her gaze, which flitted away momentarily before returning, and rejected her with a firm no. It earned him several glares from male classmates, including Jounouchi. Her face crumbled, but she retreated with the gift clutched to her bosom. Kaiba wrote her off as an outlier, but he should know better than to underestimate the tenacity of high school girls. Take Mazaki Anzu for example: she was the epitome of perseverance and staunchness throughout Battle City. Other girls had the same strength of resolve, and Kaiba was discovering their efforts directed at him.

Gym was troublesome enough as a portion of the boys decided they wanted to assassinate him via a soccer ball to his head. After changing back into his uniform, he was stopped by no less than a dozen girls on his way back to homeroom. Most crumbled under the weight of his rejections, but several walked away with even more determined expressions on their faces. Hadn't the rest of the school gotten the message yet?

"Kaiba-kun," another female voice called. This one was startlingly familiar.

He turned to face Mazaki. "Not you too."

She appeared confused for a moment before recoiling in horror. "Dear god, no! Ew!"

He relaxed minutely at her reaction, but refused to let down his guard entirely. "I don't understand why they're still trying. I made my stance perfectly clear."

"No, you issued a challenge. What did you think was going to happen?" she laughed.

He stared at her, baffled.

"What you said this morning was the sort of thing you say when you challenge Yuugi to a duel," she smirked. It was entirely too superior looking. "They're your fans, Kaiba-kun. They're saying that they have to personally face you and move you first— earn the right to give you a birthday gift. Kaiba Seto doesn't like cowards."

It was true— Kaiba didn't care for cowards. He also didn't care about these girls to begin with, and nothing was going to change that. He muttered a curse underneath his breath. They were going to keep swarming him like endless waves of enemy mooks, weren't they?

As if she read his mind, Mazaki then said, "Lunch is about to start and I already saw some girls from the other classes hanging around our classroom."

Kaiba considered his options carefully and chose a strategic retreat to one of the older auxiliary buildings. The population at the school had shrunk drastically over the last twenty years, much as it did in schools all over Japan. He reckoned that the classrooms there hadn't been in regular use since the 1980s. Students weren't normally allowed there as it was used for storage nowadays. But he was able to obtain a key from one of the teachers by citing special circumstances. He didn't use it often, but it served as a private place when he needed to make and take urgent business calls.

He double-checked to make sure he locked the front door behind him. Taking out his phone, he pulled up his email as he walked further into the building. At least he could work on some company business in peace. He even considered skipping the rest of the afternoon classes to avoid further nuisances. A flash of yellow and blue dancing on the edge of his vision gave him pause. He turned to gaze into the open doors of an empty classroom. Stretched out across a sunny spot on the floor was Jounouchi, his face slacked in sleep and his crumpled uniform jacket jammed under his head as a makeshift pillow.

Come to think of it, Kaiba didn't see him during gym. If he was there, Jounouchi would have also tried to murder Kaiba with the soccer ball. Kaiba sneered— Jounouchi was playing hooky.

As if you're any better, a tiny and traitorous voice inside Kaiba's head dared to point out.

Yeah, but Kaiba technically had permission to use the building. Jounouchi didn't; and he was trespassing on Kaiba's sanctuary. What if some teacher came looking for Jounouchi here? Then there would be even more people intruding on his safe haven. He crossed the room and nudged the sleeping boy with one foot. Jounouchi mumbled something inaudible and burrowed his face into his jacket-pillow.

"Bon— Jounouchi, get up," he ordered and tapped a sprawled leg harder.

Jounouchi groaned, eyelids fluttering before falling open to reveal his drowsy gaze. Flopping onto his back, he stretched over the floor. The motion caused his t-shirt to ride up, giving a peek of taut abdominal muscles and smooth skin. Something inside Kaiba recoiled. Jounouchi had no right to look so graceful or cat-like.

Jounouchi sat up and drew both legs into a cross-legged position. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, flinging off the crust that gathered in the corners. "Kaiba? What are you doing here?"

"I'd like to ask you the same question. How did you even get in here?" Kaiba folded his arms across his chest and impatiently tapped his fingers along his upper arm.

With a lazy swing of his arm, Jounouchi gestured to a window looking out onto the rear of the school property. "The lock on one of them's been loose for years. I just jimmy it a bit and climb right in." He yawned and didn't bring a hand to cover his mouth. With his tousled hair and gaping mouth, he really did resemble a dog.

"Fine, now leave. I can't concentrate with you here." Kaiba waved a hand dismissively and turned his attention back to his phone.

Jounouchi bristled. "Fuck you, man. I wasn't gonna bother you. In case ya hadn't noticed, I was sleeping until you woke me up."

Tearing his eyes from the screen, Kaiba stared back unimpressed.

Jounouchi threw his hands in the air and climbed to his feet. "Ugh, whatever. What time is it anyway? Did English already start? Cuz I'll go find some other place to take a nap if it did."

"Not yet. It's currently lunch break."

Jounouchi's stomach rumbled on cue. Kaiba threw him a disgusted look, but Jounouchi brushed it off and asked, "What brings you out here, Kaiba?"

"Women," he blurted without thinking.

Jounouchi laughed. The sound echoed off the walls, triggering a strange shiver that raced down Kaiba's spine. "Serves you right, asshole. I would kill to have that many fans."

"You're welcome to them," Kaiba grunted. If he could somehow transfer those dead-weights to Jounouchi, he would. He'd still do it knowing that Jounouchi would be an insufferable gloat afterwards.

Jounouchi sidled up to him, brushing shoulders together as he tried to peer at his phone. Kaiba glared at him, but Jounouchi remained impervious to the look. Then lightly punching him in the arm, Jounouchi added, "Lighten up, it's your birthday. You get presents and cake. Everybody loves birthdays. They're supposed to be fun!"

Kaiba generally found birthdays, other people's and his own, inconvenient. It almost made him long for the days before he became a public figure. Other than the birthday gift that eventually paved the way to Kaiba's takeover of the company, the day normally passed with little note when Gozaburo was still alive. Nowadays, it marked a time when business associates and other sycophants tripped over themselves to ingratiate themselves.

"Not for me," Kaiba growled. "The last thing I'm going to do is humor a bunch of lovesick teenagers who've deluded themselves into thinking they understand the first thing about me. Don't they know I could easily afford to buy myself anything they could give me?"

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "That's cuz it's the thought that counts, Kaiba. You could at least let them down easy."

"Why? What purpose would sparing their feelings serve?"

"Like it says on the box: spare their feelings, duh. Tell them little white lies, ya know, Otogi calls them 'social currency.' Don't you know that girls can be fucking scary when you make them mad?"

"As if I'd take the advice from that sorry excuse for an entrepreneur," Kaiba snapped. "You'll be happy to know that it backfired. They're more determined than ever to prove themselves worthy."

Jounouchi's face fell, providing Kaiba the smallest modicum of satisfaction. He then wrinkled his nose. "What the hell do they see in you?"

A lance of indignation stabbed at Kaiba. Vanity was not one of his prouder traits, but he knew his own worth. "I'm wealthy, successful, and conventionally attractive."

"But your personality also sucks ass," Jounouchi countered hotly. "Why does nobody else see it?"

He didn't like Jounouchi pointing out his shortcomings— even if they were technically true. He could be nice to Mokuba, but Mokuba was also his brother by blood and the one thing he would protect above all else. He bore a certain amount of affection for Isono, Fugata, and Haruhi, who all stood by his side through the company's highs and lows after he took over. Then there was Yuugi and the complicated tangle of begrudging respect and resentment that characterized their relationship. And Jounouchi... What was Jounouchi?

"Well, my sparkling personality doesn't keep you from nipping at my heel," he fired back and arched a questioning eyebrow. "What does that say about you then, Jounouchi?"

Jounouchi physically reeled back. Kaiba didn't understand why the other boy's gaze then drifted south to his feet. It reminded him of Sasebo and other things better left behind. But when Kaiba was truthful with himself, he recognized that the problem started before Sasebo, before the courage test, and probably as far back as the mess with DOMA. It began whenever Jounouchi stopped regarding him purely as an adversary, eyes slowly tinting with shades of sympathy and almost fondness. Had that started in Battle City first? The distance between him and Jounouchi diminished with each tournament and the passage of time. It wasn't right, and it made Jounouchi dangerous.

Jounouchi's soft response jolted him like static shock. "You're not always a bastard though. You've been better the last few months. If you stop being so—"

No, Kaiba didn't want to hear the rest of it. "Jounouchi, don't mistake the lack of hostilities as something more meaningful."

You'll only be disappointed.

Jounouchi peeked at Kaiba from under his long bangs and hooded eyes. For a moment, it looked as if he wanted to say more. "Right, I'm gonna go catch up with Yuugi and the others. See ya, Kaiba."

Jounouchi shuffled away with his hands jammed into his pockets and his back slouched. Absent of any furnishings and now Jounouchi, the dimensions of the room seemed to shrink. Kaiba violently shoved the thought aside.

-x-x-x-

Classes ended early that Friday, and students scrambled up and down the length of the school making final preparations for the cultural festival. Kaiba was out the door as soon as the bell rang, but Bakura still somehow extracted a promise to make an appearance the following day. Not that Kaiba had much choice between Mokuba's unshakable enthusiasm over his participation and the administration's forever waning patience regarding his attendance record. As it turned out, even a second-rate public school like Domino High would tolerate only so many absences. Kaiba had depleted the school's goodwill when he previously ran off to America for six months to set up the second KaibaLand.

As he lay in bed early Saturday morning, Kaiba contemplated faking an illness. Except that was a decidedly not-him and not-Kaiba thing to do. Over breakfast, he kept checking his corporate email in hopes of some emergency.

"Nii-sama, I can't believe I have to go to school today! I want to go to your school festival." As Mokuba whined, he almost sprayed a mouthful of rice over the table.

Kaiba shot his brother a disapproving glance. "You have a half-day. You'll still have plenty of time to come afterwards." Though he would prefer if Mokuba didn't come at all, there was no stopping his brother when he set his mind to something.

Mokuba continued to pout up until the point where they arrived at his expensive, private school. Sensing that he wouldn't persuade his older brother otherwise, Mokuba dropped the act and bade him a slightly less sulky goodbye. All too soon, Kaiba arrived at Domino High. The courtyard was bustling with life as the majority of food stalls were already set up.

When Kaiba arrived, which was well after the rest of his classmates, Bakura was already directing the others through the final set-up. He critically eyed several of the props being shuffled around, including several foam tombstones. Bakura managed to secure a larger room, one of the music classrooms, for their class booth. Upon spotting Kaiba, Bakura marched up and bodily shoved him toward the room next door.

Bakura hissed, "Everyone else is already in costume. Hurry up and get changed."

"Six hours," Kaiba reminded him before walking away.

-x-x-x-

When Bakura showed him to his scene, Kaiba let his displeasure be known. His partner, obviously Jounouchi in a wolfman's costume, made a choked sound that was muffled by his latex mask. Kaiba's costume was essentially a bloody and torn shirt with a fake stump hanging out of the right sleeve and makeup on his face that made him look like he had been mauled by a wild animal. The rest of his "arm" was presumably the bloody mannequin limb that Jounouchi was swinging around with wild abandon.

Unhappy with the prospect of playing victim to Jounouchi's monster, he growled, "A rabid dog, how appropriate for you, bonkotsu."

"Can it, Kaiba!" Jounouchi shouted.

Sensing a possible fight, Bakura butted in, "You both have no one to blame but yourselves, you two waited until the last minute to sign up for the duty roster. These were the only openings left. Kaiba-kun, you have the easiest job of all. All you need to do is lie over those fallen tombstones and moan or twitch to draw people's attention, Jounouchi will handle the actual jump scare."

"You owe me big time, Bakura," Jounouchi muttered under his breath.

He and Jounouchi stared at each other for several long moments, even though he couldn't see Jounouchi's eyes behind the mask. Jounouchi broke away first and ducked behind a dark curtain. Sighing, he went and flopped over the foam tombstones, willing the day to be over soon.

-x-x-x-

The students had used dark-colored curtains and the painted scenes to raise fake walls and hiding spots for the actors. Visitors would enter from the door at one end of the classroom, follow the single makeshift corridor that took them past multiple scenes depicting the inside of a castle, and exit through the door at the other end. Along the way, various students in costume like Kaiba and Jounouchi would jump out and give them a good scare. Of course, it wasn't as impressive as either of the haunted house attractions that ran all year around at both KaibaLands. But it wasn't shabby for something thrown together by a high school class in less than two months.

The first group came through around around 10:30, half an hour after the school gates opened to the public. Kaiba heard their screeching long before they reached his and Jounouchi's scene near the end of the route.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!"

"I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

"Wait, I think there's someone lying down over there."

They were nearly on top of him. Kaiba gave a half-hearted grunt.

"Did you hear that?"

Somebody suddenly roared, and the group shrieked in unison. Kaiba flinched as a herd of feet trampled past and vanished around the next corner. One of them nearly kicked him in the head. He turned over to glare at Jounouchi, who radiated smugness through his costume.

Take that, he seemed to say.

-x-x-x-

The next few groups went much the same way with Jounouchi leaping out and Kaiba nearly getting crushed in the ensuing stampede. He didn't see why he needed to be present if Jounouchi's act alone was sufficient. There were better uses of his time. His smartphone's screen was a beacon in the dark of the haunted house. Caught up in his email, he never noticed the next group of visitors arriving.

"This isn't very scary," a boy complained, breaking his concentration.

Kaiba supposed he was right. He pocketed his phone, slithered his right arm back under the shirt, and deadpanned, "Boo."

The visitors stared at him in disbelief. They didn't even flinch when Jounouchi jumped out from behind the curtain.

"That was lame," someone said as they shuffled away.

"Way to kill the mood. Would you kill you to put some effort into this?" Jounouchi tore off his mask and hissed. Even in the dark, Kaiba could tell his face had gone red with rage.

He turned his back to Jounouchi and fished out his phone again. "It just might."

Jounouchi growled, then he pelted Kaiba's "severed limb" at his head. It hit harder than he expected, but Jounouchi always did have a good throwing arm.

-x-x-x-

Keeping Jounouchi's threat to beat him with the fake arm in mind, Kaiba moaned and twitched like he was in his death throes for the next group. Jounouchi followed up with his usual jump scare from behind the curtains. They scared the hell out of the teenage couple, causing the girl to give an unearthly screech and clamp both arms around the boy's neck tight enough to cut off his air supply.

Unfortunately, they also frightened the five-year-old sibling that was tagging along.

Kaiba wanted to dress down whoever was handling admission at the door. A five-year-old child was far too young to be going through a haunted house like this. Bakura prided himself on realism— or as much realism that their shoestring budget could afford. The little boy took one look at Jounouchi and began wailing non-stop at the top of his lungs.

Kaiba turned his ire on the older sister, "What were you thinking, you imbecile?"

The little boy cried harder in response.

"I'm sorry, I..." she trailed off, bouncing her hopeless expression between her brother and Kaiba. Then she looked to the other boy she had come in with, who was purposefully distancing himself from the group. "But he said he wasn't scared. Be quiet, Takeo!" she yelled with growing panic and mortification.

"Of course, he'd say he's not scared at his age. You should have known better, so don't you try to reassign blame for your poor judgment," Kaiba hissed. Mokuba had acted similar at that age, always wanting to pull a brave face. That was why it was up to the older siblings to take responsibility in these instances.

"Someone shut that brat up! He's ruining everything!" One of Kaiba's classmates shouted from further inside the room.

Before Kaiba could rebuke their unseen classmate, Jounouchi beat him to the punch. "Cool it, asshole. He's just a kid. Give him a freaking break!" he barked, before kneeling down to address the child presumably named Takeo.

But before he could say anything, the boy wailed and clung tighter to his sister's skirt, "No! Don't eat me!"

The classroom lights overhead came on suddenly. Kaiba used his "good" arm to shield his eyes against the brightness. Several other people's groans of protest carried across the room and through the partitioning curtains. After his eyes adjusted, he lowered his hand in time to watch Jounouchi pull off his mask and shake his hair free.

"See?" Jounouchi gave the boy his sunniest grin. "Not a real werewolf."

Kaiba doubted anyone would mistake that happy-go-lucky attitude or smile as belonging to a monster.

The boy's sobs subsided into hiccups. Hesitantly, he stepped out from behind his sister and touched a pudgy hand to Jounouchi's cheek. Then he whipped around and turned panicked eyes in Kaiba's direction. "But what about Onii-san's arm?"

"Also fake. Don't worry, he's still got both arms. Show him, Kaiba," Jounouchi urged with a pointed look.

He sighed and peeled off the top half of his costume. Goosebumps rose along his skin as his bare chest was exposed to the cool autumn air. He swung both arms to demonstrate their working capacity. Thankfully, it was enough to placate the boy's fears. After the boy finally calmed down, Yuugi arrived to escort the group out.

Before they made their exit, Jounouchi stopped the older sister by grabbing her elbow and said with a deep frown, "Next time you want an excuse to throw yourself at your boyfriend, leave your kid brother out of it."

She turned red in the face and ripped her arm out of Jounouchi's grip. For a moment, she appeared to be debating whether or not to slap Jounouchi. Kaiba stepped closer to the pair— she was armed with some wickedly sharp nails.

It was strange being on the same wavelength as Jounouchi.

"Mind your own business, you creep," she hissed. She even dared to glare at Kaiba before stomping off after Yuugi, who shot them both a relieved expression before he vanished around the next bend.

Jounouchi pressed a hand to his chest and let out a loud sigh of relief. "Yeesh, I thought she was going to scratch my eyes out."

Bakura's voice rang through the room, "Five minute break and then we reset, everyone. Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank god, I was about ready to die," Jounouchi muttered gratefully. With the mask off and the lights on, he appeared visibly flushed with sweat dripping from his hair and down his neck. Even his eyebrows were matted, flattened against the contour of his brow ridge. It was a good thing that the worst of the summer heat and humidity had already passed, otherwise he might collapse from a heatstroke.

A finger suddenly poked Kaiba in the ribs, derailing his train of thought. He instinctively swatted the hand away. While he had been watching Jounouchi, Jounouchi had been staring at his unclothed torso. Kaiba no longer felt chilled as the unwelcome feeling that he refused to acknowledge as self-consciousness crept up on him. He crossed his arms over his chest and challenged with an icy glare, "What?"

"Heh, you're scrawnier than I thought you'd be." Jounouchi's eyes shone with good-natured teasing.

Embarrassment joined self-consciousness in the mess that Kaiba tried to lock away into a mental box. Without another word, he ducked behind a curtain to fix his costume.

-x-x-x-

"Kaiba, Kaiba!" Jounouchi hissed urgently.

"What?" he snapped back. When he turned around, he almost wheeled back when he saw just how close Jounouchi actually was.

Jounouchi had taken off his mask again, and he was dripping sweat onto Kaiba's costume. But he seemed oblivious to the fact or Kaiba's personal space when he said, "Yuugi just told me that Mokuba's about to come through. Do me a favor and take a video on your phone?"

"Do it yourself. I want no part in this."

"C'mon, I don't have mine on me right now. Besides, it's kinda hard to video myself scaring your little brother."

"No."

Jounouchi grabbed Kaiba's actual arm and shook him, rocking the fake tombstone precariously and nearly toppling Kaiba from his place. "It's a small payback for the courage test thing from July. Don't forget I twisted my ankle and everything."

He swatted off Jounouchi's hands and scooted away, but he couldn't escape the musky scent of Jounouchi's sweat. "Why on earth would you think I'd agree to help you prank my little brother?"

Jounouchi followed him, forehead scrunched in thought as he grasped for a valid reason. Kaiba turned away, figuring he'd already won the argument. There were only two hours left, he counted down privately.

"Cuz I'll bite you if you don't," Jounouchi blurted desperately at last.

Kaiba's eyes widened. In the dark, the white of Jounouchi's teeth was visible enough to add an edge to his threat, stirring a strange flash of something. "What are you, five?" he hissed and wiped his clammy palms on his thighs.

"Please? I just wanna scare Mokuba a teeny bit."

Kaiba was surprised that Jounouchi lowered himself to saying please out loud. "Fine! Knowing you, you'd be shameless enough to try and I don't want to find out what kind of disease you might pass on. But I hope you realize that Mokuba's not five and he doesn't scare as eas—"

"Sweet, and don't you dare warn him!" Jounouchi slithered back into his hiding place as a familiar set of footsteps approached.

Kaiba sat up and readied his phone. In the dim lighting, he doubted he'd get a good shot, but Jounouchi couldn't say he didn't try otherwise. And if he still tried to bite him, he would punch Jounouchi in the face first— truce be damned.

Mokuba rounded the corner and stopped short of the tombstones. He still wore his uniform, so he must have come straight from school as promised. "Nii-sama, what are you—"

His brother was cut off by Jounouchi's roar, who swooped in, grabbed Mokuba around the shoulders, and lifted him off the ground. Kaiba watched as Mokuba's eyes widened in alarm before his instincts kicked in. Mokuba threw his head back and headbutted Jounouchi in the face/mask. Jounouchi groaned in pain and lost his grip. Mokuba landed on his feet, spun around, and landed an off-center kick on Jounouchi's knee— felling him like a great tree. The encounter was over in seconds, every moment captured in startling clarity by Kaiba's phone.

"Why, Mokuba?" Jounouchi choked through what sounded like tears.

"Oh shoot! Jounouchi? I thought you were a kidnapper or something!" Mokuba exclaimed.

From the floor, Jounouchi shot Kaiba a wounded and betrayed look. "You knew this was going to happen."

"It was a possibility and you didn't listen to reason," Kaiba smirked and then addressed his little brother. "Mokuba, good job. I can see you've been paying attention in your martial arts lessons."

After the multiple hostage situations during Battle City, Mokuba himself insisted on learning some self-defense. Upon hearing praise, he seemed caught between the desire to preen and his still fresh guilt over injuring Jounouchi. The guilt won out in the end though. "Nii-sama! Not now!"

In retaliation, Jounouchi chucked the mannequin arm at Kaiba. Although he sidestepped to dodge it, he didn't need to given that Jounouchi's throw fell pathetically short. The fake limb rolled several times before hitting the tip of his shoes. He laughed, admittedly not very nicely, at the attempt.

"Fucking Kaibas. I think you broke my knee this time," Jounouchi moaned, curling into a fetal position and throwing both arms over his face. But Kaiba still caught the scheming expression that flashed across his face. How Mokuba missed that though, he'd never know.

Mokuba dropped to his knees and started shaking him. "Hang in there. Do you need the nurse, Jounouchi? Talk to me! Nii-sama, don't just stand there!"

Jounouchi groaned pitifully from the floor. In Kaiba's opinion, he needed some acting lessons before he could fool anyone. But Mokuba fell for the act hook, line, and sinker.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "He's fine, Mokuba. You and I both know Jounouchi's not so easily beaten. He's like a cockroach that way."

Jounouchi was painfully ordinary in every way except for his resilience. In the span of a year, he'd gone from being a virtual non-entity to possibly the third best duelist in the world— that was according to Pegasus, who was of debatable mental stability. If the Malik Ishtar hellbent on revenge and his Winged Dragon of Ra couldn't kill Jounouchi, one kick from even Kaiba's little brother would have little effect.

Finally tired of playing possum, Jounouchi struck and wrestled Mokuba to the ground. Once he had the younger boy pinned, he proceeded to tickle him into submission. "That'll show you to pick on the mighty Jounouchi Katsuya!"

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba shrieked, breathless with laughter. "Help me!"

Kaiba saved the video on his phone though. It was prime blackmail material, and it served Jounouchi right for threatening to bite him.

-x-x-x-

Kaiba grumbled to himself and scrubbed harder at his face. Getting out of the costume was easy, but the makeup for his fake wounds resisted all efforts to remove them. The water circling the drain was already a muddy red mixture of colors. Jounouchi suddenly appeared in the mirror behind him, and he tried not to tense in response.

"Here," Jounouchi offered a wet wipe over his shoulders. "Anzu said this'll work better since that stuff's supposed to be waterproof."

He accepted the wipe with a grunt and applied it to the final layer stubbornly clinging to his cheek. With the last of the makeup removed, he tossed the wipe into the trash bin. He straightened up to inspect his appearance, but his attention quickly shifted to Jounouchi as the other boy wrenched on the adjacent faucet and stuck his entire head under it.

"Whoo! Now that's refreshing!" Jounouchi cried when he pulled back and flung water everywhere in the restroom, including all over Kaiba.

"Do you mind?" he yelped and jumped back. Scowling, he took the hem of his soaked shirt and tried to wring the water from it.

Jounouchi laughed. "Sorry, Kaiba, but you weren't in a full body costume for six freakin' hours. I'll never make fun of the mascot characters at theme parks again. Don't know how they manage to do that during the summer."

"They get breaks for one, which your slave-driver friend Bakura gave to neither of us." Kaiba gave up on his shirt. Leaning against the sink, he watched Jounouchi dry his sopping hair with the same towel that he used to scrub his makeup off. It left a patch of brown in his hair, and Kaiba chose not to point it out. "Considering how you reacted during the courage test, I'm surprised you didn't spend today cowering in fear," he smirked.

"Shaddup, that was different. That church could have totally been haunted for reals," Jounouchi protested and threw the towel back into the sink. "Besides, I was doing the scaring this time. I was terrifying."

"Probably not for the reasons you think."

"Yeah, but today was fun. C'mon, admit you had a little fun too," Jounouchi flashed a grin, droplets still falling from his matted bangs. "To be honest, I never expected you'd do something like this."

Kaiba swallowed the sudden lump developing in his throat. True that the day had been less arduous than originally anticipated, but did he have fun? He and Jounouchi had settled into a working pattern after Mokuba left, and he hadn't noticed that the class booth stayed open half-an-hour longer than intended until after the fact. In those last two hours, he hadn't been tempted to check his work email once. Still, he'd rather lose another duel to Yuugi than admit out loud that he enjoyed spending time with Jounouchi. The same went for the fact that he no longer minded Jounouchi sitting in front of him in class.

He folded his arms across his chest and pushed off from his resting place. "The teachers and Bakura gave me little say in the matter of my participation."

It remained a shame that the principal took such great offense to being bribed. Maybe he should try for the school board next time.

Jounouchi's smile faltered. "Oh."

Sensing an end of their conversation, Kaiba headed toward the exit, painfully aware of the way Jounouchi's gaze followed after him. He needed to find Mokuba, who was probably gorging himself on that disgusting festival food that the other students were serving. Then he would see if he could make up a few of the work hours he'd missed.

"Wait, Kaiba!"

He should walk away, but he turned to hear Jounouchi out.

Jounouchi's eyes were cast heavenwards as he scratched one flushed cheek. "I'm a simple guy, Kaiba. I don't really do complicated... whatever with other people when all the other stuff in life is messy enough already. Ya said that a lack of hostilities doesn't mean anything else, but I'm not neutral like that. If I like somebody, I'm friendly with them. If I don't like 'em, they can go to hell for all I care. So I'm gonna treat you friendly if we keep doing this truce thing. I can't change that. It's how I am. But if that makes you so fucking uncomfortable, maybe we should call this off and go back to the way things were."

Kaiba slowly blinked, replaying and analyzing Jounouchi's words inside his head. As always, Jounouchi overlooked another possible option: they could entirely ignore each other. Even if they sat near each other in class, that would be no great feat. Instead, he chose to revisit one particular thing Jounouchi had said, "But you don't approve of me."

"I don't like some of the stuff you do and yeah, you still piss me off sometimes," Jounouchi corrected him in a huff. "But you're not a bad guy. Anzu calls it being rough around the edges, like how I used to be—"

Kaiba snorted.

Jounouchi pointedly ignored his derision and continued, "You're a good big brother, and you've helped us before even though you pretend you didn't. I kinda like you," Upon seeing Kaiba's skeptical expression, he hastily added, "As a person. Look that's just the deal and I'm telling you how it is. I know it doesn't make us friends or anything."

Over the last two months, Kaiba had grown used to it. Where Jounouchi used to be an occasional intrusion, he was now another routine part of Kaiba's life, from the part where Jounouchi slept through morning classes to Mokuba's growing friendship with Shizuka. Maybe deep down Kaiba had anticipated this was how events would play out. If Jounouchi could be friendly with Otogi after being forced into that ridiculous dog costume and paraded over the net, then he'd probably be the same with Kaiba. Kaiba had only ever humiliated Jounouchi in the arena of Duel Monsters, but Kaiba did that to everyone but Yuugi.

Feeling unusually tongue-tied, Kaiba cleared his parched throat before speaking, "Our arrangement stands. I never expected you to change, Jounouchi."

Something fluttered in his stomach. It was probably hunger, as Kaiba hadn't eaten since breakfast. It had nothing to do with the way Jounouchi's smile returned in full force.

* * *

UPDATED WITH NOTES AS REQUESTED by 1enchantedgirl

Cultural festivals are a school event staple for Japanese students from kindergarten up to the university level. They usually take place once a year, typically around Culture Day on November 3rd, which is also a national holiday. They are often held over the weekends on Saturday and Sunday, and are open to the public at the high school and university level. Much like its athletic counterpart, the sports day festivals, these are not really extracurricular activities as Westerners may think. Participation/attendance is assumed and mandatory, which is why Bakura and the other teachers are placing the pressure on Kaiba in this chapter. Classes vote on and organize their own booths. Common choices, which are often parodied in other animes, include cafes (sometimes of the cosplay/maid/butler variety) and haunted houses. Students also set up stalls to sell food or run games like at carnivals. Within the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Domino High's culture festival is featured in chapter 6.

Next up, class trip to Okinawa in November.


	4. Shared Ride

Thanks to M and darkmus for looking this over.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Shared Ride**

_Early November  
A vacation may be what Kaiba needs, but he'll never admit it.  
_

* * *

"Seto-sama, this isn't something you can make go away by throwing money at it."

Kaiba glared at Isono— he begged to differ.

Isono pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and continued, "It's been almost a year since the law was passed, but compliance rates across the entire company are still well below 50 percent. If this continues, then Ministry of Labor will fine us after they reviews our numbers in February."

Ever since the Diet passed the legislation mandating workers take at least five days of paid vacation a year, the issue had been a thorn in Kaiba's side [1]. He wasn't a complete ogre of a boss— his employees were well-paid and furnished with benefits, including paid time off. Whether or not they took advantage of those benefits shouldn't be his concern though.

Kaiba ground his teeth and refocused his attention on his computer screen. "Send a memo to the managers and make it their responsibility to raise the compliance rates within their departments. I know I don't have to tell you how to do your job, Isono."

"We've already done just so several times. A far more cost-effective strategy would be for you yourself to take a few vacation days, Seto-sama. Office culture and politics would resolve the rest for us. Your actions would trickle down the management hierarchy—starting with the higher executives, then middle management, and finally the salarymen will feel comfortable taking time off."

"I just went on vacation for Obon," he snapped. Wasn't it enough he was wasting so much of his time on school?

From the sofa, Mokuba, with eyes still glued to his phone, spoke up. "Obon doesn't count. The office was closed for everyone."

"Still, I don't see why this would affect _me_." Kaiba did not miss the shared look between Isono and Mokuba though.

Isono appeared to be rehearsing what he wanted to say in his head first. He often did that when he feared treading across the professional line. "Seto-sama, you haven't taken a single vacation day in the last two years. That places an enormous pressure and expectation on your employees to follow your example. You are still young and will have the rest of your life to work. You should enjoy your youth while you still have a chance."

Isono's concern was paternal, but Kaiba stared balefully at the man. What would he even do on vacation? He wasn't the sort of person who could lie on a beach and waste the days away. He enjoyed his job and the challenges that came with it— even if it did mean dealing with annoyances brought up by pencil pushers. He supposed he could officially take the days and continue to work off-site.

"Okinawa," Mokuba said as he sat up and looked in his direction. "You can kill two birds with one stone then. Your class trip counts as school attendance, and you can use a few vacation days for it."

"How do you know about that?"

Mokuba broke into a wide grin and held up his phone. "Shizuka-chan told me about it!"

Kaiba sighed. His brother and Isono were conspiring again. "I'll think about it."

-x-x-x-

Kaiba couldn't imagine a hell worse than 60 teenagers descending en masse on a city for their last high school hurrah. Wait, hell was being trapped in the epicenter of that.

Haruna, their homeroom teacher rapped the lectern to call their attention. "Okay, everyone, I have the schedule for next week's trip. But first, I need you all to make groups of ideally six people. Don't worry about the sleeping arrangements, your other teachers and I will be working on those. Go on."

He snorted and watched as Yuugi's squad gravitated toward one another. How predictable. The rest of the class configured themselves into unisex groups of five or six students each. No one bothered to approach Kaiba though. He would try to work out his own arrangement with the school later.

"Kaiba-kun, there's no need to be shy," Haruna said as she made her way over. She always acted with the mannerism of a kindergarten teacher and it grated his nerves to no end. "Does anyone have room for Kaiba-kun to join their group?"

He wanted to smack her with his briefcase when every head in the room whipped around to gape at him. The reactions differed across the gender divide. Most of the boy groups seemed relieved that they either had the requisite six or were trying to blend in with the background if they didn't. Two of the girl groups transformed into miniature warzones as members jockeyed to kick each other out to make room. Then in the corner of his vision, he noticed Yuugi ribbing Jounouchi and exchanging rapid words with the others.

Kaiba could see three possible paths diverging before him, and he didn't much like any of them.

"Yo, teach!" Jounouchi raised one hand and shouted across the room. "We're five here."

"Well, Kaiba-kun," Haruna laughed. "It appears you have your pick of groups."

-x-x-x-

"You're lucky that I'm letting you take your phone at all," Mokuba grumbled in the town car on the way to the airport.

Kaiba decided it was best not to argue the point. They had already confiscated his laptop. His assistant was filtering all of emails first, and executives were under dire warning not to contact him for the next five days.

Isono, seated up front, hid a smile behind his hand.

Mokuba folded his arms over his chest and continued, "Try to get along with Yuugi and the others; _don't _challenge Yuugi to any duels."

"Yes, sensei," he replied sarcastically.

Mokuba ignored him and plowed through the rest of his 12-point ruleset. Upon hearing number eight— no buying local businesses in retaliation, Kaiba rolled his eyes. That happened only once, and it had happened when he first became CEO. By the time Mokuba finished, they pulled up to the departure terminal.

Mokuba froze as his previous courage abandoned him. "Do you have any final instructions about the company, Nii-sama?" he asked and stuck his chin out.

Not for the first time, Kaiba wondered if this would be too much responsibility to burden his brother with, but Mokuba himself had asked for it. The last time he left his brother alone, Pegasus had kidnapped Mokuba. But a lot had changed in the last two years; the company was in a much more stable place, Isono would be on hand, and Kaiba wasn't going AWOL (this time). Putting Mokuba in charge for several days would also help him establish authority over the senior executives.

"No, you'll do fine." He leaned over and pressed a kiss against Mokuba's forehead.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba screeched in the manner of all flustered preteens. Still, a smile had returned to his lips.

-x-x-x-

Day one of the trip started with a flight out of Domino and into Naha. Unlike his classmates, Kaiba flew enough to not gawk and shriek at everything like country hicks. Looking back, at least Yuugi and the others were nowhere as embarrassing. They even appeared normal, composed people.

He also secured a seat by himself on account of the flight being undersold. He may have chosen Yuugi's group as the least of all possible evils, but he might go on a murder spree if he was stuck with them 24-7. They gave him his space.

From the airport, 61 third-year students from Domino High and their luggage piled into two coach buses. Kaiba might have pitied their chaperones had they not brought this to themselves. He was the last student to climb aboard, as he wanted to keep a close eye on his bag being loaded under the bus. The bus appeared filled, meaning he wouldn't have the luxury of hogging two seats to himself.

"Kaiba-kun, over here!" Yuugi waved over the seats. In the row ahead, Jounouchi occupied a window seat and Honda sat on the outside, while Bakura and Mazaki took the row behind Yuugi.

"I saved you the window seat," Yuugi said as he scooted out and back in the aisle to make room.

Kaiba contemplated the offered spot. On one hand, it meant being completely surrounded by Yuugi and his ilk, but they would also serve as a necessary buffer against the rest of his classmates. When he squeezed into the inside seat, he knocked his knees against the seat in front of him.

"Careful, Kaiba!" Jounouchi complained.

"I can't help it if this bus is built for midgets," he snapped back.

Yuugi gave a nervous giggle.

Jounouchi turned around and peered over his seat. "You're just freakishly tall."

Kaiba glanced up, ready to snap at him, when two thoughts hit him at once. One, it was strange to be the one looking up at Jounouchi when he had spent so long looking down his nose at him. Two, Jounouchi was smiling much in the same way he smiled at Yuugi or Honda. Was Jounouchi teasing him? The realization killed his irritation mid-rampage.

Then Jounouchi extended an open bag across the divide and asked, "Potato chip?"

He glanced around the cabin, wondering if anyone else has noticed yet. But Yuugi leaned over in the opposite direction to exchange words with Mazaki seated behind him, while Honda flirted with the purple-haired girl across the aisle. The entire scene was disgustingly normal-looking even according to Kaiba's limited expertise.

Jounouchi rattled the bag, recalling Kaiba's attention to him. After Kaiba refused, Jounouchi shrugged and cheered, "More for me then!"

Honda struck, snatching a handful of chips before stuffing them straight into his mouth. Kaiba winced— crumbs were flying everywhere.

"What the hell, Honda?" Jounouchi growled.

"So Kaiba can have some, but I can't?" Honda squawked indignantly, somewhat reminiscent of the monkey he had been in Noa's virtual world.

"Ya coulda waited until I asked!"

"Since when'd you give a shit? You inhaled my box of chocolates without asking first."

They quickly forgot Kaiba in the ensuing squabble. He half-expected Jounouchi to throw a punch. But the two of them sat and continued to nettle one another as the bus pulled away from the curb. Kaiba didn't want to admit to feeling out of sorts, but Yuugi shot him a lethally kind smile that failed to reassure him in any way.

-x-x-x-

The press of humanity only grew worse at Shurijo Castle. After handing out admission tickets, Haruna corralled them off the bus into a tight crowd of navy blue gakurans and pastel pink blazers. There should be little worry of losing track of their clashing group.

Haruna screamed over the din, "Shurijo Castle is a World Heritage Site. It is a prime example of Ryukyuan architecture..."

Kaiba tuned the rest of her explanation out. The courtyard was packed full of students wearing all colors and styles of uniforms. There were few other regular tourists at this time of the year. He even recognized the "rival" Domino Academy and their iconic blazers. Had all the schools in the Kanto prefecture decided to take their senior trip to Okinawa this week?

Someone tugged on his sleeve. "We're moving, Kaiba-kun."

Yuugi released Kaiba, but stuck close as his eyes nervously darted across the crowd. He could get washed away in this torrent of people. In response, Kaiba sought Jounouchi, whose blond head was like a beacon over a sea of dark hair. It helped that he was tall— not as tall as Kaiba himself though. Jounouchi laughed, throwing his head back, at something that Otogi said.

So much for their vaunted friendship, Kaiba thought sourly.

After being herded through the castle gates, each class splintered off to follow their homeroom teachers. Otogi peeled away from Jounouchi and Honda, much to the delight of the girls in his class. Bakura was absorbed into a group of his own fangirls. Kaiba still couldn't determine if Bakura liked the attention or if he was too polite to refuse them.

Kaiba injected some distance between himself and the rest of his class. An opportunity to slip away would present itself soon enough. Yuugi dogged his heels like a small child, never more than a step behind. Kaiba was used to this behavior from Mokuba, but not his former rival.

"I don't need a babysitter," he snarled.

"It's more fun to sightsee with a friend," Yuugi said with a smile and eyes that proclaimed he wasn't going anywhere.

Jounouchi remained oblivious to Kaiba's plight, instead horsing around with Honda and Otogi. (Not that he needed Jounouchi to come to his rescue...)

Yuugi cleared his throat in an oblique request for attention. Kaiba considered ignoring him, but Yuugi gave him little choice.

"How's Mokuba-kun?" Yuugi asked.

"Mokuba's fine." Something Kaiba knew Yuugi knew because Mokuba had visited the game shop last week.

Yuugi chewed his bottom lip and switched tactics. "I heard about the Christmas event you're planning this year."

If Yuugi hadn't heard about the upcoming KaibaLand seasonal event, Kaiba needed to fire the entire marketing department. Without a summer tournament and few product releases this year, the company depended on the Christmas promotional season to push it into the black. Mokuba had been planning the event since September, but Kaiba had glimpsed it only in bits and pieces. He trusted his brother and his handpicked design team to do the event justice.

Yuugi continued, "Shizuka-chan is visiting in December, and Jounouchi-kun and I were thinking of taking her. She's never been to KaibaLand before."

Kaiba briefly wondered if that was the reason Mokuba was working so hard. But Mokuba always worked hard... He might have to keep an eye on his brother's growing relationship with Jounouchi's sister.

Yuugi watched him expectantly, as if he was waiting for Kaiba to rebuke him. But Kaiba wouldn't discourage paying customers from going to his theme park. If he did, he would reserve it for more distasteful people than Yuugi and company.

Instead, he said, "Christmastime would make for a pleasant first visit."

Yuugi seemed pleased by the response, and Kaiba balked. He couldn't shake the feeling he was being socialized like a problematic pet.

"That's good to hear," then Yuugi's face brightened in that way that made Kaiba's stomach drop. "You should come with us! You and Jounouchi-kun are getting along so well nowadays."

Swinging between disbelief and disgust, Kaiba wasn't sure which implication to take offense to first. Did Yuugi's believe he would gallivant around his own amusement park on some of the busiest business days of the year? Much less with them, and certainly not to spend more time with Jounouchi. He supposed his and Jounouchi's truce might be mistaken for a fledgling friendship. Regardless, whatever acquaintance they might manage would not survive past graduation. Kaiba counted on that fact.

He stopped and turned to face Yuugi. "Save it, Yuugi. I'm not part of your entourage."

It felt like it had been years, and Kaiba was still waiting for that little fact to sink in.

"The invitation still stands," Yuugi then looked up with a welcoming expression. "You never know, you might even have fun, Kaiba-kun."

Kaiba made a disbelieving noise in response.

-x-x-x-

A full day of stops meant they didn't check into their hotel until after a dinner of traditional Okinawan cuisine. The group trudged into the lobby with suitcases trailing their dragging feet. Kaiba hadn't walked that much in one day since the Battle City tournament, and there had been no convenient helicopter rides when his feet started to ache. Room assignments were distributed, and Kaiba wished the school staff could be half this efficient all the time.

After dropping off his luggage, he grabbed a towel and went to shower. Naha was nowhere as mild as Domino in November. The long-sleeved dress shirt plastered across Kaiba's back was proof of the high humidity.

Kaiba later returned to a roomful of people. Not only was Bakura visiting his, Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Honda's assigned room, but even Otogi was lounging on the floor, watching the game of Go between Honda and Bakura. A few feet away, Jounouchi and Yuugi played Duel Monsters the old-fashioned way: sans holograms and with playmats.

Despite his initial annoyance at the additional bodies, he moved toward the card game. The cardstock life-counter next to Jounouchi's deck showed he was almost three-quarters the way to losing. Only one face-down defense monster was all that laid between Yuugi and Jounouchi's lifepoints. Yuugi's three attack position monsters were all weak machine-types, but as usual, Jounouchi's had a gnat's chance of turning the game around.

"Ugh, you win," Jounouchi declared and folded his hand.

"There's a surprise," Kaiba muttered sarcastically.

"Shut it, Kaiba," the other boy gave him a lopsided middle finger that suggested his heart wasn't into it. "Like you've ever beaten Yuugi— either of them."

Though true, Kaiba still glared at him. Just as he was about to turn away and go read for the rest of the evening, Yuugi called and asked if he wanted to play.

"I don't have my deck with me," Kaiba shifted as he replied.

"Oh, that's no problem. We're not playing with our usual decks!" Yuugi scrambled to his feet and dived into his suitcase. He returned to the playmats with several identical and unlabeled deck boxes. "They're all pre-made decks. Jii-chan holds blank box play at the shop, and he's always looking for people to playtest and give feedback."

"That means that anyone's got a fair chance of beating Yuugi or your ass," Jounouchi interjected from the back row.

Kaiba ignored him. Once again, the older Mutou surprised him with his wiles and ingenuity. The format had promise for both the casual players looking for novelty and more hardcore ones who might relish the challenge. It all came down to the deck composition though. Kaiba had spent hours perfecting each of his decks and meta strategies, and he doubted any other deck would seriously challenge his skills.

"C'mon, Kaiba, or ya scared you'll lose without your Blue Eyes?" Jounouchi teased, still edging closer to friendly than hostile.

Well… Mokuba never forbade him Kaiba from dueling Jounouchi. He plucked a deck box from Yuugi's arms. Jounouchi's smile widened, and he gestured to Yuugi for a new deck.

Per the house rules, they were each given three minutes to review their chosen decks and swap for a maximum of three cards from a common pile. The Cyber archetype was something he briefly toyed with early in his Duel Monsters career, but it'd lacked robust support. He exchanged a _Trade-In _for a _Reverse Effector _to increase his ability to counter spells. Jounouchi used all three of his swaps for a _Level Lifter_, _Double Summon_, and _Safe Zone_. By the time they'd set up, shuffling, and cutting each other's decks, Honda and Bakura had abandoned the Go board to spectate their game instead.

Two turns in, it became obvious what Jounouchi's deck archetype was. He glanced over at Yuugi and raised a questioning eyebrow, "Madolche?"

Yuugi shrugged in response.

Soon, he and Jounouchi traded direct attacks as often quips. Every slim advantage that Kaiba took, Jounouchi made him fight for it. "If you didn't insist on using those ridiculous gamble cards, you'd be a half-decent duelist," he grimaced as Jounouchi took another chunk out of his lifepoints.

"There's nothing wrong with my deck!" Jounouchi protested and set another card facedown in the magic/trap zone before ending his turn.

He shook his head and drew a card. He smirked— it was what he had been waiting for. "They introduce an unnecessary element of risk into your strategy. Other cards can offer the same benefits without the tradeoffs."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes and leaned back to bump Yuugi's shoulder. "Not everyone can afford the finest rare cards that Pegasus' got to offer. 'Sides Lady Luck's on my side."

"Not for long," Kaiba smirked and summoned a _Cyber Dragon _.

"Hah, we'll see!"

When Kaiba's lifepoints hit zero first, a stunned silence settled over the room. He stared at the playmat, his mouth slightly agape. Jounouchi had made a solid play, wiping out all the monsters on Kaiba's side of the field with a chained combo.

"Did that just happen?" Otogi asked and blinked owlishly.

"Hey!" Jounouchi reached out to smack the other boy, but Otogi rolled out of the way. The momentum sent Jounouchi face first into the carpet. He then growled, "You guys don't have to act that surprised."

"We're sorry, Jounouchi-kun, but even you have to admit that was unexpected," Yuugi said shellshocked.

Kaiba shot to his feet, and everyone in the room redirected their attention at him. The tension doubled, reflected in the face of everyone staring at him in trepidation. He relished their discomfort for several seconds— better than focusing on his own. Did they expect him to fly off the handle because he lost one game? One game that didn't even involve his actual deck. Even Jounouchi looked a touch nervous. Kaiba liked to think he wasn't that petty.

He took a deep breath and declared, "At my next tournament, I will beat you twice over in front of an audience."

Jounouchi's stared, surprise morphing to delight. "I'm gonna hold you to that!" Then he turned to Yuugi, "Let's go again, Yuugi. Tonight is my lucky night if I beat Kaiba!"

Kaiba turned and dug through his luggage for his book, ignoring all the bewildered stares tossed his way. He read the first paragraph multiple times before they lost interest in him. They continued to play until curfew, and Kaiba hid his smirk behind his book every time Yuugi trounced Jounouchi. After they finally turned off the lights and bid each other good night, Kaiba fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

-x-x-x-

A loud pop resonated through the bus' interior like a gunshot. Everyone, from their teacher making announcements to Jounouchi telling lewd jokes to Yuugi, froze. Kaiba tensed as the bus swerved, and several scared screeches echoed through the cabin.

"Fuck fuck fuck," Jounouchi chanted, knuckles turning white from gripping the top of the seat in front of him.

To everyone's relief, including Kaiba's, they pulled over to the side of the highway. The chaperones and the driver went to investigate, and the students crowded over for a better view. Kaiba glared at one boy climbing into Yuugi's lap, forcing him back off.

"It's a flat tire," he grumbled.

His classmates ignored his comments and continued chittering at one another.

Five minutes later, Haruna boarded the bus again and announced, "We have a flat tire. Another bus has been called to pick us up and take us the rest of the way to Nago. The other bus will also wait with us, so we won't be able to make it to Miyagi Island as originally planned."

A girl raised her hand, "How long will it take?"

"About two hours," Haruna smiled serenely.

The class groaned in unison.

"But—"

Everyone, including Kaiba, perked at her cheerful tone.

"We're going to the beach in the meantime."

A roaring cheer went up. The class stayed together as a group until they hit the sand, where they scattered to the winds.

"Remember, no swimming!" Haruna instructed and Kaiba wondered when she would give it up as a lost cause.

Kaiba had flown over the dark and churning waters outside of Domino many times— to Pegasus' private island, to Alcatraz, and on one interesting occasion, to Taiwan. Compared to that, the Okinawan ocean was in a different class. Their bus had been driving along the highway and sea since they left Naha earlier that morning. But from this distance, where the waves crashed against the shore, the ocean had never looked more emerald.

In less than five minutes, several classmates were already skirting the swimming ban. They waded the incoming tide with bare feet and hiked up pants and skirts. He scanned the length of the shoreline before spotting Jounouchi and Yuugi under the shade of a rocky outcrop. Kaiba rubbed the itchy skin on the back of his neck, deciding he'd burn if he stood out in the sun for much longer. Unfortunately, he was too tall for the shade being cast, forcing him to crouch next to them.

"Yo," Jounouchi greeted and patted down a block of sand. It crumbled under his fingers.

"You need water," Kaiba pointed out.

"I'll get it!" Yuugi grinned, grabbed the empty water bottle, and raced toward the water. But as he approached the shoreline, he slowed abruptly with two hops and some tittering. He then tried to fill it by tipping the opening toward the incoming wave, but he caught more sand than liquid. Another moment later, he chased the waves while doing his best to stay dry. Unlike everyone else, Yuugi took the teacher's instructions very seriously.

A firm poke to Kaiba's bicep dragged him from his observations.

"Aren't you hot like that?" Jounouchi asked. He flopped back, not caring he was getting sand all over his uniform pants.

Kaiba cast a disdainful eye at Jounouchi's jacket discarded in a crumpled heap nearby. "I'm fine."

"Suit yourself. I'm not carrying you if you get heatstroke," Jounouchi declared and turned back to his sorry excuse for a sandcastle.

"Even though I carried you after you twisted an ankle? And you always claimed to be a man of honor," he grumbled.

Jounouchi snorted with laughter, then threw a smile in Kaiba's direction. "That was all your brother's fault, so by extension, it was also your fault, which makes us even."

Yuugi came running back with a full bottle of seawater, which he handed to Jounouchi. "Anzu wants to check out the concession stand so I'm going with her. Are you gonna be okay, Jounouchi-kun?" he asked while giving Kaiba an oblique glance.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "I promise not to drown him in the meanwhile."

"Great! You two have fun!" Yuugi beamed and raced away again.

They worked in silence, despite the sound of the waves and screeching teenagers. Well, Kaiba watched more than he took part as Jounouchi stacked wet sand to form a tower buttressing the outer wall. It was all surprisingly, structurally sound.

Kaiba asked, "Why are you building a sand castle?"

"It's something you do at the beach and since we're not allowed to swim."

"I think your friend Honda would disagree very much." Several yards away, Honda and Otogi flirted with several girls in bikinis and one-piece swimsuits.

Jounouchi followed his gaze, then wrinkled his nose upon seeing their antics. "Yeah, well, I haven't been to the beach since..." he trailed off, their eyes meeting before he hastily looked away and finished, "I was ten. What do you do at the beach?"

"I suppose I wouldn't know any better. I've had no reason to go to the beach ever since my birth parents died." Kaiba shifted, something tightening in his chest. It didn't happen often, not even when he spoke of his deceased parents. He pushed it down.

For a moment, Jounouchi appeared alarmed. "Not even for Mokuba?"

When Gozaburo still lived, Kaiba and Mokuba had spent six years under house arrest. There was no way he would share that fact with Jounouchi— even if he knew already more than any other person on this earth about Kaiba's past, his hometown, and his birth name.

"I saw no need," Kaiba declared.

"Man, you have no idea how lucky you are. You get to see your brother every day. You can spend time with him whenever you want." He scooped his next handful of sand viciously, and Kaiba turned his head to keep the particles from flying into his eyes. "I feel like I've fucking missed most of Shizuka's life."

Kaiba bit back his words. Living together in a house was no guarantee of a good sibling relationship. He and Mokuba had spent years estranged under Gozaburo's care. Worse yet was how the conditions continued with him keeping his younger brother at arm's length, even after the bastard's body had grown cold. Who they once were seemed simultaneously so long ago and not far enough in the past. Instead, he thought of Mokuba at his side in Battle City, of how Shizuka led Jounouchi around Sasebo.

This was another strange experience this trip had given him: bonding with Jounouchi over their past failings as older siblings. Kaiba wanted to ask more, but it wasn't his place. "You two seem close now. Isn't that all that matters?"

Jounouchi's shoulders shuddered as he took a deep breath. "Yeah, guess you're right. Can't change the past."

Kaiba couldn't agree more. The past was the past. What mattered was moving forward, toward the future.

-x-x-x-

The rest of their second day passed in a whirlwind after they lost almost three hours to the flat tire. Miyagi Island and a visit to a salt factory fell victims to cutbacks so they could reach Cape Hedo for sunset. It felt as if they were let off to stretch their legs for ten minutes before being packed back onto the bus. Their dinner and hotel reservation waited in Nago, another hour southbound along the same road they'd just traveled north on.

Kaiba hadn't expected a tour group to be... so exhausting. Yuugi and the others didn't bug him to socialize or play games that night, all of them falling into bed in near exhaustion to rise again at 6AM. By eight, they were surveying the surrounding countryside from Nakjin Castle, a former Ryukyuan fortress.

Then came the aquarium, more packed than any other site they'd visited since Shurijo. Local elementary students made up a majority of the guests, constantly scrambling out of the older Domino student's way. Kaiba caught a glimpse of a chaperone here and there, but the students were left to entertain themselves until lunch,

Dwarfed by an enormous shadow cast across the floor, Kaiba wrestled with the sense of strangeness building since he arrived in Okinawa. It was impossible to get more alone time on a trip with this many people. There was always someone sharing his seat on the bus, someone asleep in the futon next to him, or someone pounding on the door of the hotel room's bathroom and demanding their turn. Kaiba expected to hate every moment, and most times he did. But sometimes he didn't mind the crowd— his peers buzzing around him. Times like that made what he did and what he said seem foreign.

"That thing is fucking huge," Jounouchi muttered in awe as he sidled up, standing shoulder to shoulder with Kaiba.

Kaiba nodded mutely. He rarely felt dwarfed by anything, but this whale shark was a notable exception. He craned his neck back to get a better look as it swam over them.

Jounouchi mirrored the motion as he continued, "Only a few places keep them in captivity. Probably 'cause they weigh more than 19,000 kilograms."

"Aren't you a bastion of whale facts?" Kaiba smirked as his attention drifted to an over-sized manta ray.

"They're sharks actually," Jounouchi corrected. "And the largest fish on earth. Ha! I know something you didn't know!"

The water and lighting cast a blue tint on everything in sight, muting Jounouchi's blond hair into a muddy brown. Yet it couldn't dim his glow of self-satisfaction or the edge of friendly banter shining through his tone and body language.

"One against a million is not something to be proud of," Kaiba drawled in return.

Jounouchi gave a small huff of laughter. "Like Duel Monster wins, I'll take what I get."

He thought back to their (unranked and unsanctioned) match two nights ago and scowled. "That hardly counts."

"Yeah—"

"Jounouchi!" Otogi marched over, resting both hands on his hips when he stopped in front of them. Then he demanded, "What is taking you so long?"

"Oh right! Almost forgot about that..." Jounouchi looped his arm around his elbow. Kaiba jumped at the sensation of their uniforms rubbing against each other and tried to pull away. Jounouchi tightened his grip and announced with a wide grin, "Yuugi wants to take a group pho—"

"No," Kaiba said, mentally running through the four ways he could break out of Jounouchi's grip.

Otogi ambushed him to his left, gripping Kaiba by the shoulder. "Come on," he complained bitterly. "Before he throws a fit!"

They manhandled and forced him into the center of the group, sandwiched between Jounouchi and Otogi. As he glared at the camera, it occurred to him they were talking about him... He was outraged. Kaiba Seto didn't throw fits!

"Okay, what do you think?" asked the classmate as short as Yuugi when he handed the phone back.

Jounouchi pressed in to check the photos. Trapped between him and Otogi, Kaiba couldn't help but look at the screen over Yuugi's head. The first surprise was that the photos came out at all with the whale shark looming large behind them. Having been professionally photographed and recorded on several occasions, Kaiba appreciated how important good lighting was. The second was how he looked sort of annoyed.

"We should take a few more. Kaiba's not smiling in any of 'em." Jounouchi declared.

"I don't think Kaiba knows the meaning of the word," Honda muttered darkly from the other side of Otogi.

Kaiba shot him his best predatory smile— the one he save for his soon-to-be victims in the boardroom and in the dueling arena. Honda paled and shrunk behind Otogi.

Mazaki swatted his shoulder. "Stop that," she ordered. "Don't you want Mokuba to know you had fun?"

"I—" The protest died on his tongue. "Fun" wasn't the first word he'd pick to describe his time in Okinawa, but it wasn't incorrect either.

She plucked the phone out of Yuugi's hand and passed it back to their classmate. "Just a few more. Thank you for your help, Hanasaki-kun."

Hanasaki straightened with a wide smile spread across his cherub face. "Another one's coming around. Okay, ready, set!"

Kaiba forced what he guessed was a smile, and Jounouchi slapped him across the back afterwards as a show of approval. He spent the rest of the day absently rubbing his aching cheeks.

-x-x-x-

By the time Kaiba exited the cave and rejoined the surface world, his knees ached. Yuugi huffed and puffed behind him, then bent over half to catch his breath at the top of the stairs. The rest of their group was at least several minutes behind them, and other students lounged across every available surface facing the exit. He and Yuugi shared the same tired look and kept moving.

Yuugi groaned, stretching legs and arms out. "I would not be unhappy if I never had to walk another cave again."

Kaiba nodded. Never in his life had he had to climb as many hills, caves, and steep, uneven stairs as in the last few days. "The Gyokusendo is 5 kilometers long." He learned that little factoid courtesy of the info board at the entrance.

Horror dawned over Yuugi's face. "How long were we down there?"

"They only open about 890 meters of it the to public. We were down there for less than 30 minutes." Despite his blase delivery, Kaiba felt every one of those meters with each twitch and burn coursing through his upper thighs. He was in fine shape, which made the situation more ridiculous. "Not fond of underground caves?" he smirked and filed away Yuugi's disgust for later. It might become useful later.

Yuugi's shoulders tensed, and he refused to look at Kaiba. "No," he said and rubbed his arm distractedly. "They remind me too much of tombs."

Kaiba's jaw twitched in time with the ache in his legs. Right, the "other Yuugi"... Kaiba also didn't care to remember that day in the Egyptian tomb, sheltered from the hot sun but not from the light shining through the ceremonial door. Though he acknowledged it was for a different reason than Yuugi's. It always brought up questions that no one, not even Yuugi, could answer to his satisfaction.

He glanced at the other boy from the corner of his eyes. During Battle City, he and the other Yuugi had walked Domino matched in stride. This Yuugi didn't strut in the same way, but his carriage was confident and self-assured. Thinking all the way back to Duelist Kingdom, he tried to separate the incidents when he had interacted with that other Yuugi and this Yuugi.

Caught in his thoughts, he missed the solid navy figure that zipped into his path. He bounced off the obstacle like it was a padded wall, a snarl curling the tip of his tongue before he regained his balance.

"Hey, bro, that hurt," the world's smartest, walking, and talking wall protested.

"Then you should watch where you're going, imbecile," Kaiba snapped back.

"And name-calling hurt my feelings," the idiot clad in the navy blue school uniform continued to loom, now joined by several of his similarly questionable friends. "You should apologize, bro."

He gave a short bark of laughter. "Are you trying to intimidate _me _?"

The other boy didn't take too well to being laughed at, taking several more steps forward to press his advantage. Kaiba stood steadfast. He widened his stance in preparation to redirect any attack thrown his way. Yuugi stayed close, armed with a fierce expression and his phone which he was furiously typing into. Kaiba hoped he would stay out of the way until he dealt with these nobodies.

"Wait a sec, Dazai," a gruff voice interrupted, causing the oaf to fall back. Another boy with gelled blond hair and wearing the same school uniform sauntered forward.

The leader, Kaiba recognized with growing distaste. The mannerism seemed a little familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint from where.

"Boss— " Dazai protested before falling silent again after a glare.

"Don't you recognize Domino City's own Kaiba Seto?" The leader slid his appraising gaze up and down Kaiba. "You're a businessman, let's settle this like gentlemen. If you could cover poor Dazai's hospital fees, we could go our separate ways."

On cue, Dazai groaned and clutched a hand to his shoulder.

Kaiba had stared down far worse men, his adoptive father not included. Two-bit thugs wouldn't have scared him as a ten-year-old, and not now as an almost-eighteen-year-old corporate mogul. This was, by far, the most amateur attempt at extortion he had ever witnessed. He moved to sidestep Dazai and his leader, but another thug stepped in to intercept their path. This exchange repeated again and again until they were completely surrounded.

He counted six of them and no help from the other park-goers, who gave them a wide berth with downturned gazes. If an actual fight broke out, Yuugi would be a liability. He could scramble out from under their feet, but Yuugi wouldn't abandon him. So liability it was...

"Back off!" a familiar voice roared from the fringes.

A stalwart-looking Jounouchi pushed past the circle, hands jammed in his pockets and shoulders squared to make himself look bigger.

"You!" The leader snarled; his previous air of calm abandoning him.

"You okay, Kaiba?" Jounouchi asked as he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

"Fine," he snapped. He needed neither Yuugi nor Jounouchi to come to his rescue. Though he knew that pesky little fact had never stopped them before. "I can handle this."

Jounouchi ignored him and faced the thug with a hooded stare. "Congrats, you're as tacky as ever, Hirutani."

"Stay out of this, Jounouchi," the leader of the thugs, Hirutani, growled.

Interesting; they knew each other by name and their mutual contempt for each other bred from familiarity. Though still annoyed by the unnecessary rescue, Kaiba grew curious too. He realized how little he knew about Jounouchi's background, or how shallow his speculations were. It seemed unfair, considering how many of Kaiba's skeletons were exhumed during their run-in with Noa. This Hirutani was one small piece of a larger puzzle, whose scale Kaiba only began to understand.

"You know I can't do that when you mess with my friends."

Kaiba grimaced.

Jounouchi continued with narrowed eyes and a promise between his words, "Maybe I gotta remind you about what happened the last time you tried?"

The two boys stared at each other; waves of hostility churning between them like a violent whirlpool. Was this "rescue attempt" going to derail into a fistfight between two delinquents right in the middle of an Okinawan tourist trap? Yuugi stepped closer to Jounouchi and touched his elbow, but it was unclear if he intended to comfort or to offer encouragement.

Hirutani spat at Jounouchi's foot, then bore his teeth in a sharp smile. "I'll pay you and your friends back one day. Let's get outta here, boys."

The circle of goons split apart and filed behind their leader like his own personal army. Other people that were not Kaiba Seto might have been cowed by the show of force. On their way past, Hirutani bumped shoulders with Kaiba, drawing another colorful swear out of Jounouchi. Kaiba watched them go with a dark glare.

-x-x-x-

Despite how busy the restaurant was, the men's restroom was empty. He looked down and scowled at the bright red stain setting into his shirt. If he were a pettier man, he'd hunt down the idiot that spilled the drink and make him pay for the dry cleaning. He moved his school jacket further away from the sink and wrenched open the faucet. Using the napkins that Yuugi had passed him when he excused himself, Kaiba scrubbed at the spot until it faded to a pale pink.

A flash of movement in the mirror caught his attention. In it, he could see he was no longer alone. Dazai filed in first, followed by Hirutani and his disgusting swagger. Soon the entire room filled with half a dozen of them, squeezed between the sink and the stalls and the doorway.

He should have known they wouldn't give up that easily. Thugs like Hirutani always had more pride than brains. He turned off the water, balled the napkin, tossed it into the wastebasket, and turned to glare at the intruders. "Must we do this again?"

"Shut it. Let's see how tough you are when your guard-dog's not around," Hirutani sneered.

"Your issues with Jounouchi are yours alone. Leave me out of it." As he spoke though, he studied the other boys and calculated how many he could take in this confined space. The odds weren't in his favor though.

"I'll deal with him and his freaky friend in my own time. What I'm interested in today is what's in that wallet of yours. Give it to me," Hirutani demanded with flat eyes.

"Resorting to mugging me now? Pathetic."

As a group, they advanced in unison on him. Kaiba hesitated to raise his guard, given how little room he had to work with. Dazai and another lunged at him in unison, and Kaiba's fist clipped Dazai's ear. The other unnamed thug caught Kaiba by the elbow and wrenched his arm back at a dangerous angle. Kaiba couldn't gain the momentum he needed without dislocating his own shoulder first. Dazai shrugged off the glanced blow and rammed him back into the sink, delivering a sharp blow to Kaiba's hips.

Kaiba forced himself limp in their holds, even as Dazai landed another punch that winded him. He let them take the wallet from his pocket, instead focusing on committing every one of these idiots' faces to memory. They were all going to learn what it meant to cross Kaiba Seto.

"That's all you have?" Hirutani said as he tucked away the money taken from the wallet. He dropped the rest of the billfold with its cards to the tile floor. When one of his lackeys handed over Kaiba's cellphone, lifted from his school uniform jacket, Hirutani turned it over twice and made a less dismissive noise. Then he leaned in, staring Kaiba straight in the eye, "You gotta have something more valuable on ya."

Kaiba snorted. They were under the impression that CEOs carried all their priceless valuables wherever they went. His estimation of their little gang fell even further. They couldn't even rob him right.

Hirutani's gaze dropped, zeroing in on Kaiba's sternum. Kaiba realized a millisecond too late when his locket was torn away, the chain biting into the back of his neck before it snapped.

"Give that back!" he roared, seeing nothing but red and twisting in his captors' grip. Dislocated shoulder be damned if it meant getting this asshole's grubby hands off the locket.

Hirutani hopped back and out of reach. "Doesn't look expensive, but it's important to ya, huh?" he asked and flipped open the cover. He laughed at the picture inside, sending Kaiba's blood pressure spiking. Tossing the locket and the phone to yet another lackey, he ordered, "Take those and go."

The lackey took one look at Kaiba's thunderous expression and fled.

Cheap cologne and cigarette smoke filled Kaiba's nostrils as Hirutani leaned in to meet his gaze. "Nobody messes with Rintama High, rich boy," he laughed, high and smug. "I guess those rumors about you are just rumor. You're no better than motherfucker Jounouchi."

When Hirutani left the room, his remaining goons threw Kaiba into a stall and barricaded him in it like a common victim of bullying. By the time he broke open the stall door and rushed back into the restaurant, there wasn't a glimpse of the black Rintama uniform in the crowd.

-x-x-x-

Here and there over the rest of the afternoon and early evening, Kaiba plotted his retaliation.

While the rest of the class ohhed and ahhed over the wares showcased along International Road, Kaiba slipped away to an electronics store several blocks away. There, he purchased a new phone that got internet and email but no other frills. He paid with the credit card that the Rintama boys were too stupid or too smart to not steal. His first call on his new number was to I.T. at KC, where he ordered them to remotely wipe and brick his old phone. All the important data was already backed up to the cloud, and Kaiba refused to leave them a functional phone to pawn off.

The second thing he did was activate the locket's locator beacon, so he could keep an eye on it as it traveled around Naha. It always showed at the opposite end of the city.

Before boarding the bus again to head to dinner, Kaiba ordered his security department to forward him background checks on Hirutani and known associates within an hour. The first report arrived within forty minutes and he abandoned his chanpuru at the table to read it.

A chopstick jabbed his ribs. He clutched his phone close to his chest and glared at the offender.

"Aren't ya gonna eat?" Jounouchi asked.

Without a word, he pushed his bowl over, hoping that would shut him up for good. Jounouchi stared suspiciously at him for several moments before taking it and splitting it with Honda.

By the time they had settled in their hotel for the night, Kaiba was ready to make his move. Rintama had just arrived for their four-day-long trip and were heading north in the morning. The Domino students were bound for the airport and back to the main island at the same time. It would have to be tonight.

His chance came right before nine. GPS location showed them having left the hotel where Rintama was staying for the night and moving toward Naha's 3-Chome neighborhood. A brief investigation of the neighborhood online revealed many nightlife venues, confirming his suspicion that they were sneaking out to have nighttime fun.

When he reached the room door, Yuugi asked, "Where are you going, Kaiba-kun?"

"To the convenience store," he said and left the room before anyone could ask any more questions.

Less than two blocks away from the hotel, he sensed he was being followed. Dodging onto a side street, he waited in the shadows for his stalker. The first glimpse of Domino's school uniform had Kaiba grabbing his classmate and shoving him against a nearby wall. "Jounouchi," he hissed and glared. "Why are you following me?"

"The question's what's the hell's wrong with you? You've been acting weird all night!" Jounouchi shot back, watching him with a cautious expression that suggested Kaiba was the unhinged one.

He paced the length of the sidewalk. "Nothing's wrong."

"Well, you're not going to the konbini!"

Kaiba squeezed the bridge of his nose. He didn't have time for this. "Go back to the hotel, Jounouchi."

"If you break curfew, we all get in trouble," Jounouchi grabbed him by the lapel, knuckles turning white as he clenched a fistful of fabric. "You're coming back with me."

His remaining patience evaporated. "It's your fault that this even happened in the first place!" he shouted. "Has it occurred to you that not everyone needs you to be their knight-in-shining-armor? I don't. Now let go, Jounouchi, or I will hurt you."

Jounouchi held tight, shadowed gaze sweeping across Kaiba's enraged expression. "It's Hirutani, isn't it?" he stated flatly. "I wondered why that asshole didn't try something again. Thought maybe he'd finally learned his lesson, but I guess not. Lemme guess, he cornered you in the restroom, had everyone else wail on you and take your stuff. Ya wallet? Ya phone? Something else he's holding for ransom?"

"It's none of your concern. I'll retrieve it on my own."

"So it's a personal item then," he declared with authority and then snorted in disgust, "He's been pulling the same move since middle school."

By now, Kaiba was more perplexed than anything else at how Jounouchi had broken down the situation. "Been defending that deadbeat's victims for that long?"

Jounouchi released his uniform, eyes darting toward the ground. "Yeah, something like that. Bet you have a way of finding him, doncha?"

"Of course."

"Good, I'm coming with you then."

Kaiba opened his mouth to argue, but Jounouchi's determined gaze and the fingers now digging into his bicep made him think better of it. Then, as if someone else was in control of his body, he nodded again. Maybe Jounouchi's familiarity with them would be an asset.

-x-x-x-

After a twenty-minute cab ride, they found their targets in the back of a bar called _Spade's_. Surrounded by his followers, Hirutani raised his glass when they approached and jeered, "If it isn't Kaiba-sama and his trusty guard-dog!"

Jounouchi snarled as he advanced on Hirutani, "I oughta teach— "

"Not now, Jounouchi!" Kaiba snapped and Jounouchi backed off. He switched his focus back to studying the leader, smug and flush with alcohol. Taking a deep breath, he slid into the headspace he inhabited for business negotiations. "You have something of mine."

Hirutani laughed. "Your phone? Sorry, we sold it and used the money to pay for this round!"

His cronies cheered and sneered.

"Or did you mean this thing?" Hirutani reached under his shirt and fished out the locket— Kaiba's locket!— dangling around his neck.

Kaiba took measured breaths, trying to calm his boiling blood. "If you return it now, I will overlook this incident. It would be in your best interests to do so."

"He's not playing around, Hirutani!" Jounouchi added. "And neither am I. This is gonna be the last time ya mess with any of my friends."

Hirutani rose to his feet and stepped toward them, his eyes slid lazily back and forth between Kaiba and Jounouchi. "I could give it back if I was in a better mood. Maybe you can buy us another round of drinks? What do ya say, Jounouchi? For old time's sake?" He slipped the locket over his head and held it to the light.

Kaiba's eyes fixed on his locket, but he knew the second he tried to reach for it, Hirutani would pull away. It was cheap, but a glorified power play was still a power play.

Jounouchi was ever quick to respond. "Suck my dick, Hirutani."

The thug threw a sleazy smile at him and voice full of mocking. "Kaiba-sama?"

"No deal." Kaiba's pride already suffered enough for one day.

Hirutani shrugged and wheeled back. "Shame, I don't need this if it's not worth anything." He opened his fist and dropped the locket to the floor. The world slowed to a crawl as he raised his booted foot.

A gun, Kaiba decided in that moment, he would need one to teach this Hirutani his final lesson. But before Hirutani could smash the locket, a blue and gold blur caught him in a flying tackle. Time restarted as Jounouchi and Hirutani hit a couch, tipping it back and disappearing behind the overturned furniture in a storm of flailing limbs.

Kaiba shook off his stupor, berating himself and dove for his locket. Something grabbed the back of his uniform in mid-air and hauled him back into a nearby table, sending the patrons seated there scrambling to get away. He pushed himself back to his feet, stinking of booze and deep fried bar food, and turned to face Dazai and two others.

With one eye on the locket, Kaiba maneuvered himself behind another table. He wouldn't be able to get around them now, but if he used his surroundings to force them to approach one at a time, he'd be able to take them individually. Dazai charged, lumbering like a clumsy bull. Sweeping under his swinging arm, Kaiba heaved Dazai into a throw. Dazai's momentum did the rest when he fell into a wooden chair and crushed it under his weight.

As Kaiba considered his next opponent, he saw Hirutani shove Jounouchi against the wall. Jounouchi slammed the crown of his head into Hirutani's nose, cutting off whatever Hirutani said. Kaiba hoped that Jounouchi broke the bastard's nose.

Kaiba maintained his distance, letting his latest opponent tire himself out with feeble punches and kicks.

"Stop dancing around!" his opponent shouted.

"Your usual opponents might be stupid enough to stand still and let you hit them. I will not," Kaiba spat. There was his opening— hesitation after the idiot threw a right hook, leaving the entire side exposed. His kick connected just above the floating ribs, knocking the wind out of his opponent.

He grabbed his final opponent and slammed him against a nearby wall, head bouncing off the plaster like a rubber ball. A sick stab of pleasure speared Kaiba in the gut. The limp body dropped to the floor and stayed there.

Kaiba went straight to where he last saw the locket on the floor, but couldn't find it. He tried searching under the table and the overturned couch in case someone kicked it during the scuffle. It could be anywhere in the bar by now.

"Police! Stop fighting at once!"

Suddenly, Jounouchi was on him, dragging him toward the back. "Kaiba, we gotta go!"

More than anything else, Jounouchi's Herculean grip and his panic spurred Kaiba to run. They zipped between the kitchen lines where a startled cook climbed over the counter to avoid them, out a service entrance, and out onto the streets crawling with nightlife revelers.

The bright, neon lights startled Kaiba out of his stupor. He threw off Jounouchi's hand, heart racing as fast as the world rushing around them. "We have to go back." He couldn't trust himself to say anything else at the moment.

"What? No! The fucking police are back there."

"Then they can help us."

"More like arrest us! Maybe they'll give you a slap on the wrist 'cause you're the great Kaiba Seto, but if I get caught in a fight like that, I'll get suspended!" Jounouchi's face fell stricken. "Or expelled."

"That's not my problem. You invited yourself. It has nothing to do with me." Kaiba could only think of the locket, possibly littering the floor of the bar in a million pieces. "I have to get that locket back." He turned and marched in the direction they came from.

"Wait, Kaiba!"

He ignored Jounouchi's cry and quickened his pace.

"Goddammit, Kaiba, I have your goddamn locket right here!"

Kaiba pivoted so fast on his heel he felt dizzy. True to his world, Jounouchi presented the item, illuminated by a shop's halogen light like a spotlight. The locket was all in one piece, not even chipped after the fight. He reached for it with unsteady hands, breathing a sigh of relief with it cradled in his palm again.

"I picked it up on the way out," Jounouchi explained.

He glanced at Jounouchi, a "thank you" on the tip of his tongue, and then froze. Blood ran fresh down the left side of Jounouchi's face and the hair around his temple drenched. "You're bleeding," he whispered, every noise drowned by the staccato beating of his frantic heart.

"What?" Jounouchi screwed his face in confusion. He pawed his face absently, eyes widening after his fingers came away red. "Shit, I can't let Yuugi see me like this."

Kaiba swallowed what felt like a scream. Jounouchi was losing what appeared to be a liter of blood and he could only worry about what Yuugi would think. "You need to go to the hospital."

"At this time of the night?"

"Then we'll go back to the hotel."

"No cabbie's gonna let me into their car looking like this. I'll be fine as soon as I stop the bleeding."

"Everyone with a concussion thinks they're fine until they pass out." Kaiba took a step toward the curb, intent on summoning a cab.

"Please, Kaiba! Don't make me beg. If the teachers or anyone else sees me like this, it's over for me."

Kaiba refused to look at Jounouchi, not wanting to revisit the blood or the panicked expressions from before. His arm remained glued to his side, fingers clenched around the locket Jounouchi rescued for him and refusing his instructions to hail the next taxi. Instead, his eyes roamed across the street to where the welcoming light of a hotel lobby beckoned.

"Follow me," he ordered.

They crossed the street and waited for another arrival to distract the doorman. He pushed Jounouchi through the front doors and directed him to a corner where a row of planters hid a leather couch from the front desk's view.

"Wait for me and try not to bleed over everything," Kaiba barked.

Jounouchi nodded, dazed.

Before approaching the front desk, he took off his uniform jacket and laid it like a suit jacket across the crook of his elbow. He slid the corporate credit card across the counter and said, "I need a room."

Flabbergasted by either his lack of manners or his very presence, the receptionist took a few seconds to regain her composure. "Of course," she glanced down at the card and her eyes widened. "Right away, Kaiba-sama! How many nights will you be staying with us?"

"One."

She typed something on the keyboard, eyes skimming down the length of the monitor. "My apologies, but all of our suites are currently booked. We can have one of the deluxe rooms prepared for you in twenty minutes."

"I don't care what kind of room, give me one available now." He glared, fingers drumming against the countertop.

She gulped. "Of course, Kaiba-sama. There's a lovely room with a queen-sized bed ready now." Though it sounded more like she was asking a question.

Kaiba nodded.

"I'll have you booked in a moment. Is there anything else I can help you with this evening?"

Kaiba glanced over his shoulder to where Jounouchi's blond hair was visible through the gaps between the planters. "A first-aid kit."

If she was surprised by the request, she hid it behind her customer service face.

-x-x-x-

Head wounds, even minor ones like Jounouchi's, bled a lot.

Upon entering the hotel room, Kaiba had shoved all the usual complimentary toiletries aside and forced Jounouchi to sit on the fake marble counter so that he could examine the wound. Satisfied that Jounouchi wouldn't drop dead at any moment, he fell back to watch from the bathroom door.

"Fucking Hirutani and his fucking rings," Jounouchi muttered darkly as he continued to clean the shallow cut across his left temple. He wrenched the faucet on, dying the sink interior pink when he wrung the towel dry.

What little he had seen of Jounouchi's side of the fight informed him that Jounouchi was undisciplined and reckless. Kaiba swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat. "You were lucky."

"Yeah, tell me about it. This is still better than the time he tried to electrocute me..."

Kaiba's eyebrows shot up. "Did you say electrocute?"

"Long story," was all Jounouchi would grumble. His tone suggested he wouldn't offer further details.

Kaiba caressed the locket around his neck. It was both strange and relieving to be wearing it again after the last several hours.

In the mirror, Jounouchi's eyes drifted downward to follow the motion of Kaiba's hands. "That means a lot to you, huh?"

He hesitated. After everything Jounouchi had tried to do tonight, he deserved an explanation. "It's priceless, only two in the world. Mokuba has the other one."

Jounouchi beamed. The smile transformed his entire face. It was as if he hadn't been bleeding furiously, hadn't been in a bar brawl, hadn't been under the risk of expulsion. He smiled as if the split lip, the head wound, and his bloody knuckles were well worth it.

"Most importantly, it's also one half of the key to the KaibaCorp vault," Kaiba hastily added and broke eye contact.

"Oh... I guess that would make it priceless."

Jounouchi sounded uncertain of what to do with the information. Kaiba could relate; he didn't know why he said it in the first place.

When a cellphone rang, Kaiba swore Jounouchi muttered "oh thank God" underneath his breath. Jounouchi dug his phone out of his back pocket, checked the caller ID, and answered it. "Hey Yuugi," he greeted, wincing as he sandwiched the phone between his cheek and right shoulder. His left hand reached for the butterfly bandages in the first aid box open on the counter.

Kaiba pushed off the doorjamb and left Jounouchi to his conversation. He did a lap around the queen-sized bed and checked the in-wall closet. He ignored the sounds of Jounouchi reassuring Yuugi in the background, gaze falling on the wall clock. The time was five after ten: their curfew at the hotel. Perhaps that's why Yuugi was calling.

Jounouchi poked his head out of the bathroom. "Hey, Kaiba, Yuugi wants to talk to us on speaker."

He nodded and Jounouchi placed the phone on top of the bedspread.

"Kaiba-kun? Are you okay?" Yuugi's tinny voice filled the room.

"I'm fine," he flicked his eyes to Jounouchi on the other side of the bed. "We're both fine."

"I'm glad to hear that. We convinced Haruna-sensei that you and Jounouchi-kun were here when she was checking all the rooms before curfew. Jounouchi-kun said you're in another hotel right now. Maybe you two should stay the night?"

"Yuugi," he warned.

"No, please, Kaiba-kun. If the front desk sees you coming in now, they'll tell the teachers. And if you and Jounouchi-kun get caught after I lied..." Yuugi trailed off, but Kaiba understood. It would only make matters worse.

"But we leave for the airport in the morning," Jounouchi protested.

"That's why you should stay where you are for the night and come back in the morning. That's when it'll be the busiest with everyone checking out and loading their luggage onto the bus. Don't worry, we'll make sure all your luggage also gets loaded!"

Kaiba snorted. "Have this all thought out then?"

"I want what's best for everyone," Yuugi said.

Kaiba contemplated saying no; damn the consequences. He had what he came to get and the teachers could try their best at punishing him. They wouldn't accomplish anything— not with him. Jounouchi shifted nervously. His pinched expression said he knew what Kaiba was thinking. But Kaiba then remembered; the blood, Jounouchi's surprising fear of being expelled, the favor that Jounouchi did him by returning his locket...

"Fine."

"Great! We'll see you tomorrow then!" Yuugi chirped, followed by a beep when he hung up.

He and Jounouchi both stared at the one bed in the room.

-x-x-x-

Sharing a bed with someone else was the strangest sensation that Kaiba had felt in a while. The mattress dipped in time with Jounouchi's quiet breath. Kaiba hugged the edge of the bed frame to keep his body from rolling into the valley between their bodies. With both of their body heat trapped under the bedsheets, the comforter became a sweltering sauna. Every time Kaiba shifted and tried to find a better position to keep his feet from dangling over the mattress, his heel collided with Jounouchi's shoulder. The mattress bounced as they grimaced in unison.

For some reason, Jounouchi deemed it a waste of money to get a second hotel room. Kaiba couldn't understand why. He had his credit card, and two rooms for one night wouldn't bankrupt Kaiba. That was how their current arrangement, lying head to toe in the dark, came to result.

Sighing, Kaiba fished out his phone and scrolled through his emails.

"Ya mind? I can't sleep with that light," Jounouchi groused several minutes later from the foot of the bed.

Kaiba smothered the spike of irritation and stowed his phone under his pillow. Soon, he noticed the change in Jounouchi's breathing that indicated he had fallen asleep. Kaiba closed his eyes and waited for slumber to find him as well.

He awoke shivering around 2AM, bare torso exposed to the chilly room. He cast a bleary look at the foot of the bed to where Jounouchi resembled a caterpillar in its cocoon. Kaiba gripped a loose corner of the sheet and yanked, jolting Jounouchi to full wakefulness.

"I'm cold," he spat the words through gritted teeth.

"You shoulda wore a shirt to bed," Jounouchi whined, but unfurled himself from the sheets as prompted.

Kaiba threw his head at his pillow and pulled the cover tight around his neck. "It's bad enough to sleep in yesterday's underwear, I will not do the same in yesterday's shirt," then he added as a pointed jab. "Like some slob in this room."

Jounouchi made no reply. He was already asleep again.

Around three, snoring filled the room, shaking the very walls and foundations. Kaiba gritted his teeth and flattened his pillow over his ears. Fifteen minutes later, he delivered a knee to Jounouchi's rib to silence the noise. Jounouchi retaliated with a foot in Kaiba's mouth.

Jounouchi didn't appreciate being banished to the chair, and he made that known loudly and at length past the three-thirty marker. In return, Kaiba envisioned smothering him for several long, glorious minutes.

By four, Jounouchi made the unilateral decision to climb back into bed. He slipped under the covers at the head of the bed, fluffed his pillow, and flopped over with his back turned to Kaiba. Worn down by the endless bitching, Kaiba was too tired to protest.

-x-x-x-

"There you are. Everyone's waiting on you two."

Rows and rows of curious eyes stared down the length of the bus at where Haruna besieged Kaiba and Jounouchi.

"Well, we're here." Kaiba's eyes slid past her in search of open seats. He said nothing of their near miss that morning after Kaiba failed to set an alarm and Jounouchi snoozed his four times. Kaiba paid the cab extra for speed, and he hoped Yuugi would continue to make excuses for them.

With a sigh, she moved aside and let them past. Jounouchi kept his head lowered to hide his bandaged temple and split lip, following Kaiba to the back of the bus. Kaiba's seat bounced when Jounouchi clamored into the one next to his. Once out of the view of others' scrutiny, Kaiba leaned back and exhaled. He was finally going home.

He pressed his cheek against the cool window, letting the sunlight wash over his face like a calming balm. His eyelids drooped dangerously by the time they pulled away from the curb, and the bus' repetitive motions rocked him the rest of the way to sleep. Another source of warmth, soft yet solid, pressed against his other side. Kaiba hummed.

Kaiba stirred some time later when the judicious application of the brakes jostled him. He almost went back to sleep until he realized the warmth at his side belonged to another person. He twisted his neck to study Jounouchi's head pillowed against his left shoulder. Jounouchi's hair was sun-kissed, tousled to reveal the butterfly stitches across his left temple. Daylight highlighted the haggard features of his face, though Kaiba guessed he looked the same. He rolled his shoulder experimentally, hoping to nudge the other boy awake. He tried to set the length of Jounouchi's golden lashes and his sleep-glazed eyes out of mind.

"You're on me," Kaiba's voice sounded hoarse.

"Ah, sorry, man," Jounouchi yawned and pulled away. "I'll go sit with Yuugi."

Kaiba needed to say something to prove that he still could. "I appreciate your assistance last night."

Jounouchi waved his hand dismissively as he rose. "It's not a big deal. Friends help each other." With another flippant wave, he lumbered to where Yuugi sat alone. Yuugi only laughed and patted Jounouchi on the head when he snuggled up like a child to a stuffed animal.

It had been a long and odd trip, Kaiba reminded himself. He sank back into his seat and drifted into a restless sleep, wondering if he'd dream of the deep emerald ocean, a half-finished sandcastle, and the warmth of a friend's smile. Maybe the next time that Mokuba complained about needing a vacation, Kaiba would take him to the beach.

* * *

[1] There were plans to submit such a law to the Japanese Diet back in 2015. news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/05/in-japan-it-may-soon-be-against-the-law-to-not-take-a-vacation/

I know Madolche is technically all about that XYZ summoning, but they're just a normal archetype in this fic.

I had trouble deciding whether to post this as one chapter or two, but I felt so bad for taking so long with this that I figured one extra-long chapter was better. Haha, that probably wasn't the bed-sharing scene you were hoping for. Sorry, but it's still early in their friendship and I hope I was able to inject some realism into the annoyances of sharing a bed with someone.

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Kaiba trying to figure this friendship thing out.


	5. Overworked

**Chapter 5: Overworked**

_Mid-November through December  
Jounouchi spends a lot of time at work and even more time with the Kaiba brothers.  
_

* * *

Mokuba's text demanding his favorite store-brand flan had prompted Kaiba to take the detour. Jounouchi didn't know though, otherwise he might not have startled when Kaiba walked in on his part-time job. A dozen customers drifted through in the last hour. They were almost all single salarymen buying beer and a premade, boxed meals on their way home. Were Genji, the night-shift manager, not taking inventory, Jounouchi would have ducked out.

He liked Kaiba well enough these days. Since returning from Okinawa, their interactions settled into a pattern that was probably the closest thing Kaiba knew to friendship. But if Jounouchi didn't want Yuugi turning up at his night job, the thought of Kaiba appealed even less.

The reality was that Jounouchi was manning the storefront alone and he wanted— no, needed to keep this job. Shaking off his shock, he swallowed thickly, dipped into a deep bow from behind the counter, and greeted in brisk sonkeigo (1), "Welcome."

Kaiba, swathed in his toasty-looking wool coat, stared for several long seconds before shuffling down the nearest aisle.

Jounouchi straightened and watched Kaiba walk the perimeter of the store, handling items he had no intention of buying, before reaching the refrigerated section to Jounouchi's immediate left. Their eyes met again, and Jounouchi turned his attention toward "restocking" a counter display. Inside his head though, his mortified and incredulous thoughts couldn't stop churning. Kaiba must have servants at home that made him dinner. Resorting to a reheated bento from the konbini must be at the bottom of a long list of better options.

Jounouchi glanced at the clock overhead. There was another hour left in his shift. When he looked down again, he found five caramel flan cups and Kaiba waiting for him. As he scanned the first one through the register, he asked much too casually for any customer, "Late night snack?"

"Something like that," Kaiba muttered as he reached for a pack of grape-flavored Hi-Chews and added it to the pile.

Jounouchi fought a cringe. "Your total is 2260 yen, sir."

Kaiba paid in crisp, new 2000 yen bills. Jounouchi packed the purchase into a plastic bag with brisk efficiency. "Thank you for your patronage."

When he passed the bag to Kaiba, the other boy took care not to make physical contact.

Kaiba lingered for a second. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Right, tomorrow was Monday, a school day. Jounouchi waited until Kaiba left before throwing himself at the countertop in mortification. He stayed there until Genji came in and asked him what was wrong several minutes later.

-x-x-x-

Jounouchi slapped a hand over his mouth, catching the yawn in his palm. He would have gotten another, sweet hour of sleep if he hadn't got up early and half-assed the physics homework due this morning. He supposed there was no point crying over lost sleep now.

About a block from the school, Honda caught up with him and clasped him around the shoulders. "Dude, guess what I just heard," but Honda didn't give him the chance to guess. "Hirutani's been expelled! He got caught fighting in Okinawa. What did you do?"

Jounouchi hadn't told the others about what he and Kaiba got into on the school trip. Honda had tried to interrogate Jounouchi on the plane before Kaiba shut him down. Yuugi, though worried, had been too polite to pry even before Kaiba told off Honda.

Jounouchi shrugged. "It was nothing. You know how Hirutani is. He makes trouble wherever he goes."

Honda's hands on his shoulder tightened. "That's exactly what I'm worried about. With your history— "

"It's in the past. Trust me," he insisted. They were approaching the school gate and he didn't want to talk about this where Yuugi might overhear.

Honda released Jounouchi, frowning and taking two steps back. He wore that look he always did before launching into a lecture. Whatever he tried to say was lost when Kaiba jostled past, bumping Jounouchi's shoulder forcibly.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, rubbing his sore shoulder. First Honda and now Kaiba. Why did everyone insist on manhandling him today?

Their eyes met so briefly that Jounouchi wondered if it even happened. But Kaiba's words, flat and serious as his flint-sharp stare, cemented the reality, "You weren't there."

Then as suddenly as he arrived, he departed. Had he been wearing one of his trenchcoats, it would have flapped around in his wake. Kaiba marched past the gates and melted into the crowd meandering toward the entrance.

Jounouchi's jaws hung open, dumbfounded. "What?"

He wracked his brain, trying to figure out what happened. He was trying to wrap his head around Hirutani's expulsion when Kaiba appeared, acting completely different from last night. Where wasn't Jounouchi supposed to have been? Was Kaiba referring to his part-time job? Jounouchi only came up with was more questions and no answers. Maybe he should find Kaiba and ask him exactly what he meant?

Either way, standing here all day also wouldn't give him answers. If they wasted any more time, they would be late. Jounouchi and Honda both gave Ito, the gym teacher on gate duty, a wide breadth. Ito always gave them grief about their tardiness, their hairstyles, their uniforms, or whatever tiny thing he could nitpick. It was one reason Jounouchi skipped PE as often as he did. Even though he ducked his head to avoid eye contact with the teacher, Ito homed on him with a laser focus.

"Jounouchi!" Ito barked, and Jounouchi cringed. "Go to the vice principal's office before you go to class!"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Now, Jounouchi."

Today wasn't his lucky day. He took his time at the lockers, slapped on his school shoes before tossing his sneakers in. Honda kept tossing concerned looks his way.

When they stepped away from the lockers, Honda asked, "See you in class?"

"Yeah," he muttered, dragging his feet behind him as he split ways with Honda.

The vice principal's office was on the opposite end of the school from his classroom. Despite his reputation, he didn't go there as often as some of his classmates would've guessed. Duel Monsters and being Yuugi's friend left little room for schoolyard brawls. Jounouchi surveyed his attire, which was a bit sloppy but well within dress regulation.

He slid open the door and gave a perfunctory bow, hoping to get on the teacher's good side. But the greeting snagged on his throat, his mouth drying at the sight of the two uniformed officers waiting. They were the same officers he was well-acquainted with from his junior high school years. For better or worse, the vice principal herself was nowhere to be seen.

"Good morning, Jounouchi-kun," Ueda, the taller policeman with auburn hair, gave a serene smile and beckoned him in. It didn't put Jounouchi at ease because Ueda always smiled like that, delinquents included. It made him all the more scary when he dropped the mask. "Please come in and have a seat. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

More than three years by Jounouchi's count. He hadn't seen them since entering Domino High, which was well out of their patrol area. Given how Jounouchi had extracted himself from Hirutani's gang, they even parted on good terms.

He took a reluctant seat opposite them and asked, "What's this about?"

His first fear was for his dad; that something had happened at his construction job. But that was ridiculous, because he saw his dad before leaving for school. Jounouchi cast a glance at Yamase, the second policeman who flipped open his notepad and pulled out a pen.

"Where were you on November 11th?" Yamase began with a deep furrow of his brows. Of the two, he always showed his disapproval more readily.

November 11th? They had been on their school trip to Okinawa; it was the night when... when they confronted Hirutani... A trickle of sweat rolled down the nape of Jounouchi's neck. Shit, this was related to Hirutani's expulsion. He swallowed before responding, "I was on the school trip. We were in Okinawa."

Yamase pressed on, "We're here because Hirutani Akihiro was arrested for underage drinking and fighting at a bar in Naha. He claims that you and a classmate, Kaiba Seto, were also there."

Jounouchi blinked rapidly. Was this what Kaiba was trying to warn him about? What should he say? Should he tell them the whole truth? He hadn't started it. He wanted to help Kaiba get his locket back.

Kaiba's word sounded inside his head. You weren't there.

"Uh, really?" Jounouchi managed not to stumble over his words. "I was at the hotel with everyone else." He suppressed the urge to squirm. He had forgotten what being questioned was like, and he was a lot less remorseful the last time it'd happened.

Ueda focused his steady gaze on Jounouchi. "You didn't see anything? Not even Kaiba-kun leaving the hotel?"

"I... I went to bed early. I was tired." The excuse sounded lame to Jounouchi's own ears. He wouldn't admit to anything, and he wouldn't throw Kaiba under the bus either.

Yamase's frown deepened. "What about Kaiba-kun then? Did you see him leave?"

"I dunno. I told you I was asleep," he insisted.

They tried asking him the same question in several different ways. Jounouchi maintained that he knew nothing, wasn't aware of anything, and that they were talking to the wrong people. Yamase and Ueda did the same thing when he was in middle school. They would interview everyone in the gang alone, trying to get anyone of them to admit wrongdoing on their own or someone else's part. It was all very by the book. What kept everyone in Hirutani's gang from snitching was mostly fear of their leader and no small amount of contempt for the police. Now Jounouchi lied out of loyalty, which was a definite improvement in his opinion.

Finally, Yamase sighed, signaling the end of the interview. "Thank you for your time, Jounouchi-kun. You may go back to class."

He scrambled out of the seat and lunged for the door. But as he gripped the handle, he turned his head to ask, "Kaiba's not in any trouble, is he? We all know what an ass Hirutani is."

Yamase shook his head. "We've already spoken with Kaiba-san. He's made it clear that he and he alone sought out Hirutani-kun after his belongings were stolen and held ransom. Given the circumstances, the police… will not be charging Kaiba-san on that count."

They'd already spoken to Kaiba? Was that why Kaiba deigned to warn Jounouchi at all? Because he knew this interview would happen. Not so much a surprise, but Kaiba was getting off scot-free after admitting to being in a fight because of who he was!

Ueda spoke for the first time in a while, "Your choice in friends have improved. It's good you're staying out of trouble, Jounouchi-kun." It was warning, approval, and consternation wrapped in one weird, Ueda package. That much hadn't changed in the last several years.

Jounouchi threw a salute to the policeman and slipped into the hallway. After he slid the door closed, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. Too many thoughts ran rampant through his head. Jounouchi came so close to losing his work privileges, or getting suspended, or expelled like Hirutani! And Hirutani? He was probably pissed; expulsion meant losing easy access to his victim pool for extorting schemes. Jounouchi hoped that this'd be the last time he'd deal with the asshole, but Hirutani might try to take his revenge at some point. And Kaiba— Kaiba Seto, his once long-time tormentor— had covered for him. He'd i_lied_/i to the police for Jounouchi...

Jounouchi couldn't reach the classroom fast enough. The interview had taken long enough that their first class already started. Upon his entrance, all eyes flew in his direction. Most were curious and a few reprimanding.

"Take you seat, Jounouchi-kun," the math teacher chided, peeved by the interruption in her lesson.

He scrambled toward his desk, flashing a reassuring grin to Honda and Yuugi along the way. Jounouchi sat and dug through his bookbag for paper. Tearing a piece from the corner of yesterday's Japanese literature notes, he scribbled "thank you" and slipped it next to the discarded Hi-Chew wrapper on Kaiba's desk. Kaiba's piercing gaze darted up from his books, studying Jounouchi and then the message. Then he nodded, tucking the note between two pages.

-x-x-x-

Come Wednesday night, Jounouchi was shelving the latest edition of magazines while Genji manned the register. It was mindless work, but the periodicals were the more interesting inventory to work with. He enjoyed the Duel Monsters publications most because he scanned the list of articles for interesting meta. The newspaper headlines gave him a vague idea of what was happening in Domino. Even the girl's fashion magazines were interesting to page through and they helped him to understand some of the things that Anzu and Shizuka said occasionally.

The door chimed, heralding another customer's arrival. Jounouchi issued the standard greeting in unison with Genji, even though he didn't look up as he stacked a pile of _Shonen Jump_. Yuugi would lend him this month's issue as soon as he'd finished.

Jounouchi cut into the last box and gave a little start when he peeled back the cardboard. Kaiba's arrogant face stared out from the cover of _Nikkei Business_. "Stupid asshole, nearly gave me a heart attack," he grumbled.

"Tch, I told them not to airbrush the photo," Kaiba's familiar voice chimed over his shoulder.

"Shit! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Jounouchi clutched a hand to his chest and his heart hammering like a racehorse.

Kaiba plucked the magazine from the box and scowled at the cover from several angles. Though he didn't have a coat tonight, he wore a light blue business suit. Jounouchi couldn't be sure if Kaiba was going to or coming from work at this hour.

He crossed his arms across his chest and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"To buy something," Kaiba rolled his eyes and flipped open the magazine, covering his face with a photo of the same face.

"Yeah, but why here? There are plenty of other Lawson or Family Marts in Domino." Jounouchi had suspicious of Kaiba's motives for so long that the habit was hard to break.

"Perhaps the employees' antics amuse me." When Jounouchi failed to find humor in his answer, Kaiba sighed and explained, "This is the only convenience store in this area that carries Mokuba's favorite brand."

"Aw, look who's the big softy?" Jounouchi cooed.

Mokuba's arrival cut Kaiba's scowl short. The preteen bounced when he stopped next to his brother and said, "Nii-sama, you didn't tell me Jounouchi worked here."

"I didn't expect him to be here tonight." Kaiba's eyes remained glued to the article.

"Hey, Mokuba," Jounouchi greeted the younger Kaiba with a sigh.

Mokuba narrowed his eyes and asked, "Do you have permission from the school to work here?"

"Yeah, it's all legit." Jounouchi got permission— just not for this many hours. At this point, he worked more nights than he had off.

"Good!" Mokuba nodded with authority.

"When you'd become such a stickler for the rules?" Jounouchi teased. "You cheated like crazy when you challenged us to Capsule Monsters."

Mokuba objected, "That was forever ago."

"It was two years ago."

Kaiba sighed, shutting the magazine with a clap and depositing it on the stand. "Mokuba, it's getting late. Get what you came for."

Mokuba blew a raspberry before gliding off. "Later, Jounouchi. Enjoy burning the midnight oil!"

"Brat," Jounouchi muttered under his breath, careful to not let Genji overhear him. He turned and caught the thoughtful expression on Kaiba's face. "What?"

"Nothing. Go back to work before you're fired, Jounouchi," Kaiba smirked as a parting shot.

They left the store with the same purchases as last time: caramel flan and grape-flavored Hi-Chews. Jounouchi shook his head in wonderment and returned to shelving magazines with Kaiba's sorta obnoxious mug on the cover.

-x-x-x-

"Yo, Jounouchi!" Mokuba declared over the chime of the automatic doors.

He glanced at the time. Ten forty-five: right on schedule. This was the fourth shift in a row where Mokuba visited him. He was sure that Genji was sharing his shift schedule with the younger Kaiba. It could be because Mokuba always bought his weight in caramel flan each time (very likely) or because he had bribed Genji (even more likely). Though Kaiba hadn't taken a step into Lawson since, Jounouchi saw and talked to the older one regularly at school.

"Good evening, Kaiba-san," Genji greeted before ducking into the backroom.

With no other customers to serve, Jounouchi leaned over the counter to look the boy in the eye. "You're more regular than my grandma on fiber supplements."

Mokuba screwed his face. "Ew, that's uncalled for, Jounouchi. Is this how you repay me for going out of my way to keep you company on your breaks?"

Definitely a point in favor of Mokuba having bribed Genji somehow. "I'm not on break," he pointed out. "Why are you out here in the middle of the night without supervision?"

"I'm not alone. Fugata's waiting in the car," Mokuba pointed outside.

Craning his neck to see past the advertisements in the window, Jounouchi spotted the black town car idling in one of the parking spots. Fugata... Was that the black haired man with sunglasses always following Kaiba around tournaments? Either way, Mokuba had a chaperone. He nodded in approval.

They chatted about the latest video games (that Jounouchi couldn't afford), how things were going at school (Mokuba excelled as a Kaiba only can and Jounouchi was passing), and their respective siblings. As the clock ticked closer to eleven, Mokuba returned to the cashier with his purchases.

"Would you like me to heat this up?" Jounouchi asked, already guiding the cold yakiniku bento toward the microwave behind him.

Mokuba sighed. "It's fine. I'll heat it for Nii-sama when I get back to the office."

Jounouchi nodded and bagged the box instead. "You're going back to Kaiba Corp at this hour?" he asked and scanned the four packages of flan.

"Yeah, Nii-sama can't help it. He only gets so much done at school so he needs to put in the hours afterward. It's a good day if he gets home before one."

Yeesh, Jounouchi sympathized with that. At the end of a day filled with school and his part-time job, he ran on fumes. Damn Kaiba always had to show everyone else up.

"He'll eat the bento?" Jounouchi always figured that CEOs got their pick of delivery from the city's best restaurants.

Mokuba seemed to read his mind. "Nii-sama'll eat anything I put in front of him, so there's no point in getting too fancy." He smiled softly and Jounouchi returned it, both knowing how much that spoke of Kaiba's trust in his younger brother.

"We carry energy drinks," suggested Jounouchi as he took Mokuba's money.

"Nah, Nii-sama says caffeine throws his whole system out of whack. He doesn't even drink coffee," Mokuba admitted with a mock-whisper and a glimmer in his eyes.

Jounouchi leaned over to join the conspiratorial huddle. "You're kidding. How does he keep going? Kaiba's really a robot, isn't he? C'mon, Mokuba, you can tell me the truth."

When Mokuba laughed, Jounouchi wondered what Kaiba's laugh sounded like. Not that creepy, maniacal laughter he did during tournaments, but actual laughter in response to something funny. Would it be light and airy like Mokuba's?

Mokuba pushed off the counter and swung his bag over one shoulder. "Later, Jounouchi!"

The hour and minute hands hit eleven as Mokuba glided through the automatic doors. Yep, as regular as Cinderella and her pumpkin carriage.

-x-x-x-

Kaiba was quiet, unusually quiet. Throughout morning classes, his gaze dug into the back of Jounouchi's skull. It made it all the harder to concentrate on the baffling math lesson on derivatives. Was Kaiba pissed? Jounouchi hadn't even done anything! But the stare didn't seem hostile— more curious than anything else...

Still, Jounouchi couldn't take much more of it. The tension wasn't good for his heart. As soon as the lunch bell rang, he whipped around and hissed, "What? What is it?"

"I haven't done anything," Kaiba replied, face blank.

"You've been..." Staring? Glaring? "Eyeballin' me all morning."

Kaiba never failed to make Jounouchi feel dumb. "You are aware that you sit in front of me?"

"Ugh!" Jounouchi ran a frustrated hand through his hair and jumped to his feet. His chair skidded across the floor and its back collided with Kaiba's desk. "Forget I said anything!" He stalked away to drag Yuugi to the store.

At least their brief conversation set Kaiba straight. Jounouchi couldn't feel the weight of his stare through the afternoon classes. But he also gave up listening halfway through literature, placed his head on the desk, and fell asleep. By the time Yuugi shook him awake, the school day was over.

Jounouchi stifled a yawn. "It's over?"

Yuugi scrunched his face with worry. "Are you okay, Jounouchi-kun? The teacher couldn't even shake you awake."

"Uh, really?"

Yuugi's gaze drifted behind Jounouchi. "Yeah, but Kaiba-kun told Maeda-sensei to leave you alone."

Kaiba snorted, "He was wasting our time otherwise. Jounouchi could sleep through the apocalypse."

Jounouchi stuck his tongue out, causing Kaiba to roll his eyes and mutter "very mature." He pulled his battered bookbag onto his desk at the same time Kaiba deposited his briefcase on his.

"So your place, Yuugi?" he asked. If they hurried, he might get some homework done before his extra shift.

Yuugi clapped his hands together and bowed his head apologetically. "Ah, sorry, Jounouchi-kun, I promised to help Bakura-kun with his club today."

After Bakura was freed of the Millennium Ring, he embraced his high school life with newfound zeal. Bakura had bounced between several clubs before he found his niche as the secretary of the history club and a set designer for the drama club. He could be asking for Yuugi's help with either.

"That's okay, Yuugi. I gotta work tonight anyway," Jounouchi said as he swept his belongings into his bag with one arm.

Yuugi nodded. "I'll make it up to you, Jounouchi-kun." With a wave, he bounced off to where Bakura waited. Bakura also waved before drawing Yugi out of the classroom.

Jounouchi stood at the same time as Kaiba, and he followed the other boy to the door. Though Kaiba crossed the threshold first, they fell into step with each other in the hallway. Other students stopped to stare at they passed side-by-side. Jounouchi understood their shock. If you asked him several months ago to imagine walking next to Kaiba, he'd said that was impossible. Now look at them. Jounouchi bit back a laugh and it sounded like he swallowed a burp.

"What is it?" Kaiba asked, eyeing him warily.

Drawing attention to their situation would make Kaiba withdraw. Jounouchi pulled a grin and instead said, "We're both members of the 'go to work' club (2)."

Kaiba snorted. As they approached the staircase, he asked, "You're working again tonight? That'd be the fourth night in a row. I wasn't aware the school allowed you to take that many shifts."

Jounouchi paused at the top of the stairs."How the hell do you know my schedule?"

"Mokuba," he said.

Right... He jogged to catch up halfway down the stairs. "And you only work the hours pre-approved by the school?"

Kaiba craned his head back and gave a stare that declared "I'm Kaiba Seto; the rules don't apply to me." He acted if that was the only response he needed, and it often must be.

Jounouchi shrugged and hefted his schoolbag on one shoulder, leaping over the remaining steps. "Someone quit last week, so they need to cover those shifts until someone new's hired."

He wouldn't complain though. He welcomed the extra income. His goal was to keep the fridge well-stocked during Shizuka's visit and to replace some of his and his dad's rattier winter clothes.

Near the entrance, they separated to change out of their school shoes— Kaiba into a shiny pair of wing tips and Jounouchi into his well-loved Air Muscle sneakers. They reunited by the door and strolled side-by-side into the chilly autumn air. The trees had shed most of their foliage, but clumps of red and orange clung to several higher branches.

A sleek, black town car, like the one that ferried Mokuba to Lawson, idled by the gate. Jounouchi remembered how the school tried to stop Kaiba from being dropped off and picked up, before breaking down when he refused to comply. Kaiba paused at the gate, turning to Jounouchi. The action seemed out of character, so Jounouchi stopped to see what he wanted.

"Do you need a ride?" he asked. Kaiba scrunched his face in a way other people only would when passing a kidney stone. It didn't surprise Jounouchi if that was the most painful thing Kaiba had done in his life.

"No thanks," he chirped. At Kaiba offended expression, he added, "I need to go home first and get my uniform. It's in the opposite direction."

The offer was more tempting than a slog through the local bus lines, but he took pity on Kaiba. He wasn't sure he trusted Kaiba to change his mind midway and to dump him on the wrong side of town.

Kaiba nodded, seeming to accept his excuse. By now, the driver had rounded the car to open the door. With one foot in the vehicle, he said, "Don't push yourself too hard."

Remembering his earlier conversation with Mokuba, Jounouchi snorted, "You're one to talk."

But Kaiba had already ensconced himself in the car, so he might not have heard. Jounouchi watched the car pull away from the curb with fondness. It never ceased to surprise him how far they'd come. He spun on his heel and headed toward the bus stop, humming a tune under his breath.

-x-x-x-

November and its colorful leaves transformed into a gray, nippy December. According to everyone and their moms, snow was coming. Jounouchi wrapped his threadbare jacket tight and hoped otherwise because his shoes weren't winter-ready. His life settled into a pattern: school during the day with the older Kaiba, homework and procrastination at Yuugi's every other day, and his part-time job at Lawson where the younger Kaiba visited by night.

But December also saw a change in Mokuba. Every time he visited, he came armed with some complaint or grievance about someone at KaibaCorp. What Jounouchi could track was Mokuba's worsening temper and growing waistline. Mokuba packed away junk food and always bought more on his way out. The poor kid was stress eating like nobody's business.

Resigned to his fate, Jounouchi timed his one break to Mokuba's 10:45 arrival. Genji even allowed Mokuba into the staff room.

"And Hino had the nerve to tell me it wasn't feasible on the current timeline, which it would have been if he hadn't dragged his feet on the stage show!" Mokuba crammed a handful of corn snacks into his mouth and glared at the table.

Jounouchi furrowed his eyebrow, trying to distinguish the employee names and projects from one another. "Wait, shouldn't what's-his-name, Asami, be in charge of that?"

"Pay attention, Jounouchi! Asami is the experience designer; Hino's the set designer!" Mokuba snapped, sounding every bit like his older brother.

Jounouchi took a sheepish sip of his soda. There was a difference? Why'd anyone need so many "designers" in the first place? But questions would only annoy Mokuba. Jounouchi wasn't trying to blow the kid off, but most of what Mokuba told him about the minutiae of project management flew over his head.

"Can't you talk to Kaiba about it? He'd set them straight." Jounouchi reached for the open box of Pocky between them.

"Absolutely not!" Mokuba shouted with a flash of panic on his face one second and gone the next. The kid was way too good at masking his expressions at his age. "Nii-sama's busy."

Frowning, Jounouchi pointed his Pocky at the younger boy. "He's your older brother, he's gotta help you."

Mokuba bit his lower lip. Everything in his expression and posture screamed his fear of disappointing Kaiba. It made him seem so young. "Nii-sama would never have this problem," he mumbled.

That was only because the older Kaiba had several factors working in his favor: age and experience, a freaky single-minded drive, and the unique ability to steamroll over other people's plans. Jounouchi liked to think Mokuba would do better, but Kaiba was a poor example in that regard.

"You can't compare yourself to Kaiba," Jounouchi said gently. "I know a lot of people probably do, but don't listen to 'em. You've got your own strengths. Ya know how to talk to people and make them smile. You don't clear the room every time you laugh. You're the best cheater I know."

"Hey!" Mokuba protested. "That's not a good thing."

"I know long-time gamblers that'd disagree. You get my point though. You'll be fine, kiddo." Jounouchi stood and stretched. As he rounded the table, he ruffled Mokuba's hair. "I gotta get back to work, but you can stay as long as you like."

Mokuba watched him leave with a thoughtful expression also too similar to his older brother's. Jounouchi wondered if he'd gotten through at all.

-x-x-x-

Jounouchi's luck also took a worse turn mid-December. A pipe burst while he and his dad were at work, flooding the kitchen and wiping out their hard-earned savings. His plan to buy a gift for Shizuka took a backseat to repairs. Between mounting bills and his impending finals, he didn't have the headspace to worry about Mokuba's work problems.

Stress always brought out the worst in the Jounouchi men. His dad coped by spending all his free time at the pachinko parlor, and Jounouchi gave into the urge to smoke his problems away. Thank god his old brand, the Golden Bat, remained the cheapest one on the market at less than 300 yen per pack. When he worked staggered shifts with Yoshiro, the older coworker was more than happy to split a carton despite Jounouchi being underage.

Due to his exhaustion, it was almost three days before he noticed that Mokuba hadn't stopped by. He hoped that was because things were going better for the younger Kaiba, but he couldn't know for sure. Taking his breaks outside, with only a cigarette for company, was on the lonelier and chilly side.

On the Saturday before finals week, Jounouchi almost plowed into Kaiba outside the store. They stopped short, looking equally dazed and rundown.

"Yo," Jounouchi greeted with an unlit cigarette and guilt between his lips. It could be worse. He could have run into Honda. Honda hated it when he smoked. "What're you doing here?"

Kaiba waved a sluggish, gloved hand and said, "Mokuba's flans."

They nodded and went their separate ways. Jounouchi rounded the store corner to put some distance between his smoking and the front entrance. As he cupped his freezing hands around the lighter, he regretted not also grabbing his jacket. The first puff flooded his lungs with heat, his eyes falling shut as he savored the sensation.

When he opened his eyes, his gaze fell on the red sports car parked nearby. He crept closer, shaking his head when the customized license plate confirmed his suspicions. Kaiba was the owner. He circled the car twice and admired the sleek body with a bite of envy. Kaiba didn't have to choose between his phone bill and fixing the growing mold problem under the sink.

Kaiba reappeared near the end of Jounouchi's cigarette. Sighing, he reached past Jounouchi for the passenger's door and deposited his bag on the seat. "That's disgusting," Kaiba said, disapproval tucked in the furrow of his brows.

Jounouchi resisted the urge to blow smoke at him. "Tough shit," he grumbled before grinding out the smoldering butt in his pocket ashtray.

With the last puff still burning through his nostrils, he rooted through his pockets for the next one. Kaiba's disapproval wasn't going to stop him from indulging his one vice. Except there was nothing in his left pocket, and Jounouchi swore he'd pocketed a second cigarette when he retrieved his lighter. Checking his watch, he saw there was just enough time to go back and grab one now.

"Take it!" Kaiba snapped and shoved something into Jounouchi's free hand. "I can't watch you smoke that third-rate crap any longer. It's an affront to good taste everywhere."

The gold-colored carton was bare of any design other than the English wordmark reading "Benson &amp; Hedges." The pack was already open— all but one of the cigarettes were present and accounted for.

"Seriously?" Jounouchi asked, shell-shocked.

Kaiba folded his arms across his chest, fingers tapping against his forearms. His goodwill appeared to run thin.

Smoke first, questions later, Jounouchi decided. His numb finger fumbled with the box and then his lighter. Closing his eyes, he jammed his newly lit cigarette between his chattering teeth and inhaled his first breath. The smoke, tar, and nicotine hit his lungs like a jolt of lightning— rattling and sharp as a razor's edge. It was good; it was divine even. In that moment, the night took on a tranquil quality as his problem faded into white noise.

Though he couldn't see it, he felt Kaiba's stare on his face. He popped open one eye and gave his friend a lazy smile. Under the light of Lawson's store sign, Kaiba looked disheveled and older— his trademark severity blunted by the twin specters of fatigue and longing. He was a man starved for nicotine.

He shook another one free and offered it to Kaiba. When Kaiba didn't take it, Jounouchi jiggled the box, enjoying the sound of the sticks rattling inside. Kaiba's self-control broke with a dirty look. He reclaimed the carton and brought the filtered end sticking out to his lips. By the time Kaiba pulled it free, Jounouchi waited with his lighter in hand. Kaiba muttered something that could have been "thanks" and leaned in toward the tiny flame.

From this close, heat rolled off Kaiba like a space heater. Jounouchi squirmed, overwhelmed by the desire to huddle into the warmth. He really wished he'd grabbed his jacket. Kaiba drew back, planted his back to his car, and blew a perfect ring of smoke. There was no hesitation to his actions, every move executed with practiced flourish.

Jounouchi grinned from ear to ear. "So Kaiba Seto smokes," he announced with glee. Like a dragon with its gold, he squirreled the new nugget of knowledge with the rest of his treasure trove of Kaiba facts. He would revisit it later and admire its particularly bright luster.

"Once in a while," Kaiba corrected with narrowed eyes.

"But ya carry a full pack on ya?" Jounouchi snorted with laughter.

Kaiba ignored him in favor of his cigarette, giving him further chance to study the other boy. With a note of self-satisfaction, Jounouchi noted the slouched shoulders. Kaiba was like an uncoiling spring of long, loose limbs. Jounouchi was a fan of anything that got Kaiba to relax. Still, it was unfair how he looked like a Hollywood movie star; Jounouchi felt super grubby in his work uniform by comparison.

Jounouchi rubbed his hands together and braced his back against the renewed wind. He risked another step closer to Kaiba and wasn't rebuffed. "When'd you start smoking?"

Kaiba's eyes wandered skyward in search of stars invisible by Domino's city lights. "When I was fourteen."

"Hey! Me too! The people I hung out with got me started." Jounouchi deliberately chose not to mention that said "people" was Hirutani's crew. Did Kaiba also start smoking in a fit of teenage rebellion?

Kaiba turned his scrutinizing gaze back on him. "But you'd quit until recently."

"How'd ya figure?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "I sit behind you in class. You've smelled like an ashtray these last few weeks."

Jounouchi wrinkled his nose. He'd thought he was doing a good job of freshening up before going to school. Hopefully, Honda hadn't noticed. Oh god, if Yuugi found out, it'd break his tiny, adorable heart. "You're not gonna tell Yuugi about this, are you?" he begged.

"Your secret's safe with me," Kaiba drawled.

Jounouchi was 90% sure he meant it. "Good, cuz I'd hate to tell Mokuba about you." He watched Kaiba out of the corner of eyes as he stiffened momentarily.

"Don't, he's picked up enough bad habits from me," Kaiba said tightly between puffs.

For a long time, the heady scent of tobacco reminded Jounouchi of his more youthful indiscretions— heated kisses stolen under the shadow of abandoned warehouses and brawls that left him bruised but his opponents bloodied. Ever since he first started, smoking had calmed the anxious beast inside Jounouchi— whether it was the need to fight, to run, to prove himself. Quitting had been his way of distancing himself from that past. Falling back into the habit seemed like a weakness. Knowing that Kaiba might feel similarly helped.

"Yeah," Jounouchi muttered in agreement. "This'll be our little secret."

They shared a moment of commiseration before finishing their cigarettes in a companionable silence. When Kaiba glanced around for a place to discard the butt, Jounouchi offered his portable ashtray. Kaiba reached into his pockets and Jounouchi wondered if he wanted a second, but Kaiba fished out car keys instead.

"Headed back to work?" Jounouchi asked.

Kaiba nodded and unlocked his vehicle with a chirp.

A thought occurred to him as he popped a breath mint. The Kaiba brothers worked on the same schedule. "Is Mokuba also working now?"

"That's why he sent me for his snacks."

He also offered Kaiba a mint, hoping it would delay him long enough for Jounouchi to gather his courage. Jounouchi had been thinking about it when he had the time, and he'd wanted to talk to Kaiba about it. They were friends now— sorta— but Kaiba might not welcome the intrusion into his private life. But it killed Jounouchi to stay quiet after watching Mokuba suffer stoically for weeks. Even if it hurt their friendship— Jounouchi ached to believed their relationship was such— he had to say something for Mokuba's sake.

"Don't you think you're pushing Mokuba too hard?" Stupid, stupid Jounouchi, he berated himself. Challenging Kaiba was the worst way to start this conversation. He might as well shove his foot into his mouth now.

"Excuse me," came Kaiba's frigid reply.

Okay, that was definitely the wrong thing to say. But one thing Jounouchi had always been good at was doubling down. "You heard me. Putting him in charge of this Christmas event is too much."

The temperature seemed to drop, forming a miniature polar vortex between them. "I would never force this on him. He asked for the responsibility. He wanted to do this."

"Okay, but shouldn't you set limits? It's not good for a kid his age to deal with that much stress."

"Mokuba isn't like other children. He's smart and capable. I will not stifle his ambitions," Kaiba snapped as anger took residence on his face. "Don't forget, he _ran_ the company in my stead after the other Yuugi put me in that coma."

He rounded the front of the car and jerked open the driver-side door. He meant to show their conversation was finished. But Jounouchi wasn't done by a long shot. Turned out four months of peaceful coexistence hadn't healed the former rifts in their relationship. In that instant, his old loathing for Kaiba— for his arrogance, for his fucking bullheadedness— flared to life like a wildfire. He stalked over and slammed a palm against the window, preventing Kaiba from pulling the door wide enough to slip into.

"Yeah, that worked out real good, didn't it?" Jounouchi came close to bellowing. He couldn't believe of all the reference points Kaiba could've drawn from, he chose fucking Duelist Kingdom. "Pegasus kidnapped him, locked him in a dungeon, and then ripped out both your souls. It's one thing for him to take that much responsibility when he had no choice. He should have some now!"

Jounouchi knew all too well the necessity of doing what needed to be done because you thought no one else would help you. That was what drove him into Hirutani's gang in the first place— and what a stupid idea that turned out to be. Mokuba deserved better. Mokuba had someone— family— who should and had the means to provide for him.

Kaiba cared about Mokuba, but trusting him to follow through and take the best course of action for Mokuba's sake was another matter. Take Jounouchi's own father for example. He meant well, cared about Jounouchi, and also couldn't be trusted with the household finances. Taking care of others was a skill, like fighting or playing an instrument. Jounouchi came to understand that after meeting Yuugi. It took time, effort, and dedication. And like a muscle, you'd lose it if you didn't use it regularly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Kaiba'd spent the better half of his life not exercising those muscles.

"He's fucking thirteen. He should be hanging out with friends his age! He should be getting into trouble! He should be having fun! Not managing adults twice his age who should know better! Then coming to me to vent about it!" Jounouchi was shouting, but he didn't care. Every breath from his lips came out ragged and weighted with indignation. It worked though.

Kaiba's expression went blank. He slammed the car door shut and moved close to study Jounouchi's face. "You know something I don't. What is Mokuba not telling me?"

Wonder of all wonders, Kaiba was ready to listen and Jounouchi didn't have to throttle him into it. Jounouchi recounted every story of Mokuba's that he could remember. He was sure the details were off, but the way Kaiba narrowed his eyes— a furious blue that cut through the dark of the night— suggested he'd pieced together the missing parts.

"Mokuba told you all that?" There was no denying the guarded hurt and jealousy in Kaiba's voice.

Jounouchi got that though. He'd feel rejected if Shizuka went to someone else for help before coming to him. But whatever injury their prides might take paled in comparison to how their siblings suffered. With empathy, his resentment slowed from a roiling boil to a simmer.

"I think he sees me as someone to vent at. He hasn't asked for my help or advice. So yeah, I get what you mean when you say he's capable and smart. But even smart and capable people run into problems." His last statement sounded more like a question, wondering if Kaiba would see it that way. Ignoring his shortcomings seemed to be Kaiba's superpower.

"He should have come to me." Kaiba reached for the coat pocket where he stowed his smokes but caught himself.

"I told him to talk to you." Then Jounouchi added with a touch of nasty, deprecating humor that darkened his lungs like tar, "But the kid's too stubborn, kinda like someone else I know."

Kaiba's voice was tight as he wondered, "Does he believe I wouldn't help him?" Old ghosts haunted his question.

Jounouchi shook his head. "No, he's afraid of disappointing you. You're everything to him. You're his role model. You're... a lot to live up to."

God, wasn't that the truth. Even now, Kaiba seemed so much larger than life.

Kaiba's gaze flitted back to Jounouchi, emotions unreadable in the dim lighting. "I don't need him to be like me. I don't expect him to follow in my footsteps."

"Good, talk to him and tell him that." Jounouchi slouched, folding into himself. The conversation had been more draining than he expected.

Kaiba nodded, and Jounouchi trusted him to follow through.

"I should get back," Jounouchi muttered and shuffled away. A leaden weight settled in his lung, making it harder to breathe. Now that his anger had subsided, the fear that he'd torched their friendship hit him like a slap in the face.

"Wait, Jounouchi."

Kaiba's hand shot out and caught his elbow. Heat bled through the layers of clothing and gloves between their skin. Despite the dread swimming through his veins, Jounouchi forced himself to meet Kaiba's eyes.

For a second, Kaiba seemed lost. Then he screwed his face in concentration and said, "Thank you for looking out for Mokuba. I'll talk to him. I promise."

Stunned, Jounouchi nodded and Kaiba released him. He turned his back and hurried back into the safety and warmth of Lawson.

-x-x-x-

With one eye fixed on the clock hanging at the front of the room, Jounouchi tapped his foot in time with the pencil drumming on his desk. He drew several dirty looks from surrounding classmates. But Jounouchi didn't care; he needed this torture to end. Whose bright idea was it to have math as the final exam of the term?

"Time's up," Kinoshita announced from his podium. "Pass your papers forward."

Jounouchi scribbled a random number on the last question he'd left blank. He turned to take the other test papers from Kaiba and delivered the pile to the classmate in front of him with a goofy smile.

Bakura and Anzu led the class through the end-of-class ritual: standing, bowing, and bidding the teacher farewell. Kinoshita wished them all a happy holiday before finally exiting the classroom.

Jounouchi leaped to his feet, pumping both arms in the air. "Freedom!"

Anzu sighed and shook her head, while Honda and a few other applauded Jounouchi's declaration. Whether he passed or failed mattered not, the term was done and Shizuka would arrive in Domino tomorrow.

Yuugi skipped towards Jounouchi's desk, the happiest that Jounouchi had seen him since finals started. He struggled just as much with math as Jounouchi did. "You want to come over and play games, Jounouchi-kun?"

"Hell yeah! Honda! Anzu! Bakura! We're going to the game shop!" After working extra shifts for weeks, he'd convinced his manager to give him off until after the new year. Jounouchi would make the most of this break.

Bakura followed behind Yuugi. His face lit at the invitation. "I've been planning a new campaign we could play during the break."

"Ooo," Anzu perked from the next row over. "What's the setting this time, Bakura-kun?"

"Nineteen-twenties prohibition America!" Bakura proclaimed with pride.

"Can I have a gun for this one?" Jounouchi asked. Bakura had vetoed him during character creation every game they'd played so far, citing that guns didn't have a place in Faerûn, Rokugan, or 15th century Renaissance Italy. Jounouchi was determined to wear him down eventually.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Yes, Jounouchi, you can have a gun in this campaign."

"Sweet..."

Yuugi looked toward a spot behind Jounouchi. "Kaiba-kun, what are you planning to do for the holiday?"

Spinning around, Jounouchi zeroed in on Kaiba and his open suitcase. Weird, Kaiba was usually the first person out of the classroom. "You could come with us..."

A look of discomfort flickered across Kaiba's face. "I'm afraid I have business to take care of. But maybe you'd consider inviting Mokuba?"

They'd made a lot of progress in the last few months, but hanging out as a group was still too much for Kaiba. Ignoring a swell of disappointment, Jounouchi clasped a hand across Kaiba's shoulder. "You betcha!"

"I'll send Mokuba-kun a message now!" Yuugi scrabbled back to his desk to retrieve his phone. The others followed Yuugi's example, flocking back to their desks to pack for the day.

While Kaiba put away his books, Jounouchi beamed with pride. "You talked to him."

"I did."

"Good."

Kaiba cleared his throat, hands hovering over the cover of his suitcase. He glanced at Jounouchi from under his bangs, visibly steeled himself, and pulled an envelope from his things. "For you and Shizuka."

Jounouchi gaped at the envelope presented to him. Upon seeing Kaiba's growing annoyance, he grabbed it before Kaiba changed his mind. He peeled back the flap and peered inside. They were two tickets for KaibaLand, both dated for Christmas Day.

"Are these for real?" Jounouchi wanted to pinch himself, make sure he hadn't fallen asleep during the math test. Christmas tickets for KaibaLand had been sold out for weeks and they were going for quadruple their retail price on auction sites. He'd been checking for them since mid-November.

Kaiba inclined his head in Yuugi's direction. "Mokuba will give Yuugi tickets for the rest of your group. You should let him know if there aren't enough."

His chest tight with immeasurable gratitude, Jounouchi clutched the sudden windfall to his chest. He spent so long fearing that Shizuka would be disappointed with her visit, with a lack of presents.

"Thanks, Kaiba," he managed around his choked throat.

"Have a good holiday, Jounouchi."

Jounouchi beamed, wanting to hug the other boy. But he refrained because Kaiba might have a heart-attack or karate chop him or do both. "You too, man. You too."

* * *

(1) Sonkeigo is a form of polite speech used by retail workers to address customers wiki/Honorific_speech_in_Japanese#Respectful_language

(2) A pun based on the "go home club," which is a designation referring to high school students who don't participate in activities after school. Jounouchi is very proud of himself for that one...

Yeah, I slipped in a reference to one of my favorite BL mangas, just because.

You may have noticed that the rating has been bumped from T to M. I wrestled with it for a while, but it does seem to be the direction that they're headed in. It won't be very explicit (definitely not as explicit as _How We Break and Rebuild_ *blush*). So please bear with me as their relationship starts to transition in the second half of the fic.


	6. White Elephant Gift

**Chapter 6: White Elephant Gift**

_Christmas Break  
Romance may be in the air, but Jounouchi's sick of it. Especially if Honda and Otogi don't knock it off._

* * *

From the head of the table, Bakura spun a thrilling tale of bootlegging and organized crime. Open bags of snacks and their character sheets covered the rest of the surface. Everyone but Jounouchi listened with rapt attention. He was too distracted by the urge to grab his phone and text Shizuka. He didn't because it'd be even better to surprise her with the tickets tomorrow.

Honda ribbed him and Jounouchi almost choked on the fruit chew he was gnawing on. "Your turn, what you gonna do?"

Good question. What were they doing again?

A picture of long suffering, Bakura sighed loudly. "Two Pinkerton guards are at the door of the shop. They're demanding entry."

Jounouchi scanned his character stats. "Uh, I shoot 'em." His character was in a mob. It seemed like the right answer.

Honda and Anzu both groaned and slapped their foreheads in unison.

A slow grin crept across Bakura's lips. "Why doesn't everyone roll for initiative?"

He resolved to put the tickets out of mind and concentrate on the game before Honda or Anzu single-handedly murdered him. In the end, he didn't feel too guilty about starting the fight. He got to roll fifteen dice to fire his tommy gun!

At a quarter after four, Mokuba waltzed into the Mutou's kitchen. Jounouchi always took a few moments to process the kid in his school uniform, beige-colored blazer and trousers from the private Seihou Academy. Bakura took Mokuba aside to catch him up on what'd happened so far. No one believed him though, especially given the way Mokuba snickered when he clambered into the next seat next to Jounouchi afterward.

"I don't trust 'em, they're up to something," Honda play-whispered.

Jounouchi nodded in agreement.

Mokuba ignored them, sitting straighter and announced haughtily, "Though you treat me with suspicion, I come bearing gifts." Then unable to maintain his own sense of drama, he fanned a handful of KaibaLand tickets and waved them. "Tada!"

Then he proceeded to explain his part in organizing the event as he passed the tickets to Yuugi on his right. Each ticket had a name on it and Yuugi distributed them accordingly. In the end, two remained in his hand: one for himself and the other marked for Otogi.

"What about Jounouchi?" Honda asked, somewhat indignant.

Jounouchi held his head up and said, "Oh, Kaiba already gave me and Shizuka's earlier."

The declaration earned him several incredulous glances and Yuugi's sunny approval.

"This is very kind of you, Mokuba-kun. Maybe we can discuss our plans after we're done with tonight's session?" Bakura asked graciously. He was eager to get back to the game, and Jounouchi couldn't blame him given how hard it was to schedule these sessions during the school year.

With that, Mokuba's young teenage newsboy character joined their motley crew. He came to them with a plot hook that he insisted on following, presenting evidence of people getting sick or going mad at their speakeasies. It was the result of tainted product from Jounouchi and the other's gang. Their characters may be in a bootlegging mob, but they weren't in the business to hurt people (on the most part)! And Jounouchi's character was never going to be able to afford that new motorcycle if word got around that something was wrong with their booze.

Unfortunately, it was a while before Jounouchi used his gun again. Mokuba and Anzu scored better results through negotiation and etiquette. They made it clear that they didn't appreciate his character butting in. As they hopped from one lead into the next, Jounouchi watched Mokuba out of the corner of his eyes. The kid steadily refused the snacks passed around the table, taking only the bottle of Calpico. He showed a marked improvement in mood compared to two weeks ago. Yet his mannerism that remained somewhat reserved, and he'd glance at his phone every so often.

As Honda's crooked cop character ambled into a rival speakeasy, Jounouchi leaned over to whisper, "You doing okay, kid?"

"Uh, yeah, everything's great," Mokuba replied, pulling his gaze away from his phone screen. "Just needed to make sure they don't need me for anything."

Jounouchi snatched the phone and snapped the cover shut. "Relax, it'll be fine. Kaiba promised you to us for the afternoon." He placed it on the table, just out of Mokuba's immediate reach.

"You're right, Nii-sama will call if there's an emergency..."

A previously friendly NPC grabbed Mokuba's character in-game. A low roll allowed him to barely break the grip, but not before his newsboy cap was knocked off to reveal long, black locks. Isaac turned out to be Isabelle, the headstrong daughter of their Don.

Remembering Princess Mary in the VR game from which they saved Kaiba, Jounouchi poked Yuugi, "Deja vu, huh, Yuugi?"

Bakura refused to let Mokuba fight Jounouchi's character in-game, so the brat kicked him under the table instead.

Isabelle plead her case to them. Something was wrong with her father, and she had infiltrated his gang for clues. As it neared dinnertime, Honda and Jounouchi both determined that the best way to proceed was to confront their boss directly. After talking down and subduing the Don's guards, they burst into his study inside his mansion home.

Bakura smiled broadly and stood from his seat before greeting them as Isabelle's father and their boss. He spoke with the same voice he'd previously used in meetings, but the words fell rapidly and jerky from his tongue. "Hello, friends. It is nice to see you. Are you tired? Would you like a drink?"

Mokuba and Yuugi exchanged worried looks, but Jounouchi and Honda marched in unfazed. Honda led the interrogation, hoping to leverage his character's intimidation score and law enforcement background. No one was too surprised when Bakura continued to feign ignorance.

Fed up, Honda declared, "I grab him and throw him against the wall."

Still standing and without rolling any dice, Bakura nodded. "You take hold of his suit lapel, but he gives you no resistance. In fact, he hardly seemed to weigh anything as you throw him against a ceiling-high bookcase. Books fall loose from overhead and he collapses in a pile of limbs."

Honda opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Bakura gathered up a stack of papers and began circling the table. As Bakura collected their character sheets one by one, he explained that he was not speaking metaphorically. An actual pile of loose and disconnected limbs laid on the study floor. From it, pinkish, crustacean-like appendages pushed out from the Don's crumpled, Italian suit.

Bakura swapped Jounouchi's character sheet without missing a beat in his narration. "The clothing falls away, and you all find yourself staring at a bat-winged creature with nothing but undulating antennae for a face."

Jounouchi glanced down at his new sheet. His character's name and equipment remained the same, but he had far fewer attribute scores. Not to mention, he'd gained new tables of numbers labeled "luck" and "sanity."

Bakura seated himself back on his throne, rolling a handful of dice in his palm and crowed, "Now if everyone can roll for their sanity checks, we can proceed."

Jounouchi sighed and grumbled "I told ya" to Honda. Bakura couldn't be trusted to run a straight-forward game.

-x-x-x-

Sugoroku invited them to stay for dinner, Mokuba included. He hesitated for a second, but agreed without checking his phone first.

Each plate of rice was piled high with chicken curry. In Jounouchi's opinion, the only thing that could improve the meal was a grilled hamburger patty. As they ate, conversation turned to KaibaLand and the tickets Mokuba gave them.

"We should all go together!" Anzu exclaimed.

Honda furrowed his brows, "But it's Christmas eve... Don't you wanna go with..." He glanced in Yuugi's direction.

Yuugi developed a new and intense interest in his glass of water. Pink dusted his downturned face. Anzu's confusion lasted briefly before she turned bright red. She tried to kick Honda under the table, missed, and hit Jounouchi's knee instead.

Jounouchi winced and bit his tongue. He turned and jabbed his spoon at Honda, flinging curry droplets on his uniform jacket. "Don't even think of asking my sister on a date."

"Dude!" Honda groaned and reached for a napkin. "I won't, as long as Otogi keeps his greasy mitts off her."

"Boys," Anzu wrinkled her nose and excused herself to use the bathroom.

Jounouchi nudged Mokuba, who startled at the touch. "Ignore these idiots, you're too young to be thinking about stuff like that." He left out the fact that he'd had his first kiss around Mokuba's age.

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I'm thirteen, not three. I even know about sex," he added with snark.

Jounouchi clutched a hand to his chest. "Say it isn't so!"

Did Kaiba know about sex beyond its dictionary definition? He must, otherwise why would he wear tight, leather pants like that? Oh God, now he was thinking about Kaiba and sex. Jounouchi slammed the mental door in his thoughts' face. Nope, he wouldn't think about Kaiba and sex sitting next to Kaiba's younger brother.

Sweet, wonderful Yuugi came to their rescue. "What are you doing for Christmas then?" he asked Mokuba. "I know it's a little silly since it's your family's, but you could come hang with us at KaibaLand."

"Yeah!" Jounouchi narrowed his eyes. "You're not working, are you?"

"No, not technically. Everything's organized and there's trained staff to handle the rest of the operations."

"Good, you're free then. Shizuka would love to see you," Jounouchi said firmly. His sister and the kid got on like a house on fire last time. She was also a lot closer in age to Mokuba than any of them were.

Mokuba warred with himself. "I'm not sure. Nii-sama might need me for something."

"He's working on Christmas?!" Jounouchi shouldn't be surprised, but he was.

"Officially, neither of us are, but—"

"Then bring him along!" Honda shot him a surprised look, mouthing "what the fuck?" Jounouchi ignored him, forging forward without a second thought. "'Sides, isn't touring the park during the event kinda like working?"

For a second, Mokuba was defiant before deflating. "I'll see what I can do about it."

With the Kaibas, everything was about the small victories. Jounouchi counted this among them.

-x-x-x-

It was hard to tell who was more nervous between the two men on the platform: Jounouchi or his father. The train from Nagasaki would arrive in any second. Shizuka wouldn't be arriving alone; their mother was dropping her off.

"Relax." Jounouchi eyed his father's wringing hands, the telltale twitch of his gambling itch. Too bad father and son didn't share the same vice, otherwise Jounouchi would slip his dad a cigarette to calm his nerves. Watching him set Jounouchi's nicotine cravings off, but he resolved not to smoke during Shizuka's visit. If all went well, he'd quit again by New Years.

Jounouchi Koji hadn't seen his daughter since the divorce and had only spoken to his ex-wife over the phone on a few memorable occasions. But that had been before Shizuka's surgery and before she'd ran away from home mid-recovery to cheer Jounouchi on in Battle City. Realizing their children would not be kept separate any longer, the parents arranged for more regular and controlled visits. Jounouchi went to Sasebo during the summer break, and Shizuka came to Domino for the holidays.

"Ah! Here she comes!" Koji exclaimed as the train pulled into the station.

Jounouchi scanned up and down the platform, eager to reunite with Shizuka. Three cars down, two familiar heads of auburn hair disembarked from the train. His hand shot into the air, and he waved and shouted, "Shizuka, over here!"

Shizuka ran a few steps before catching herself and approached in a more measured manner with their mom trailing behind. Jounouchi and his dad rushed to meet them halfway. As soon as they were in proximity, Shizuka launched herself into his arms with a gleeful "onii-chan!" Jounouchi held her close for several moments, then released her to greet his mother.

"Katsuya, you look well," she smiled, but the curve of her lips were formal and stiff. Despite the awkwardness, she meant well. Then her gaze flickered to his dad at his side, "Koji-san, thank you for letting Shizuka spend the holidays with you."

"Of course, I'm always happy to see Shizuka-chan!" Koji's words tumbled out in one breathless torrent.

Shizuka peeled away from Jounouchi to give their father a hug. Their dad's shoulders slackened in response, and their mother's smile lost some of its previous tension.

"We were going to take Shizuka-chan to lunch. Why don't you come with, Saeko-san?" Koji asked.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose," she declined a little too quickly.

"Okaa-san, your train isn't until 2:30. Come with us," Shizuka pleaded.

Jounouchi nodded in agreement.

"If you insist..." she muttered.

"I do!" Koji shuttled them out of the station with his declaration.

They settled on a family restaurant close to the station. Jounouchi and his dad squeezed into one side of the booth, while his mom and Shizuka took the opposite end. They would never be the same family they once were, which was good given the amount of fighting between their parents in the past. Over the course of their subdued lunch, Jounouchi held hope for a new and more sustainable arrangement. He had the feeling he wasn't the only one.

Their parents fell into a safe conversation about their respective work. Jounouchi listened diligently for awhile, but hid his face when she recounted stories about her students. She taught high school literature, and the associated to his floundering grades hit too close to home. Jounouchi tapped Shizuka's hand on the tabletop.

"What is it, Onii-chan?" she cocked her head to the side.

Jounouchi had convinced the others, Mokuba included, to not tell her before she arrived. "We're going to KaibaLand tomorrow with everyone."

Her eyes widened, sparkling with joy. "Really?"

"Yeah, you, me, Yuugi, Anzu, Honda, Bakura, and Otogi," he counted off a finger for each of them.

"What about Mokuba-kun?" she asked, more subdued.

"He said he'd try to make it. If you mailed him, it might convince him to show up."

She brightened at the suggestion and fished her phone out. "I'll do that!"

Perfect, and maybe that will motivate Mokuba into making his workaholic brother take a break. Kaiba had looked as tired as any of them when he showed up at Lawson last week. He only thought he was better at hiding it from everyone and everything.

Saeko peered over with curiosity. "Is that the amusement park owned by Kaiba Seto? I thought it was sold out until after the New Year."

Jounouchi shrugged. "I know someone."

"Yeah!" Shizuka jumped in, beaming with pride. "Onii-chan is friends with Kaiba-san! Okaa-san, you've met him before. He was at the cemetery when we visited Ojii-san during Obon."

"That was him?" Saeko's eyes widened in surprise, but her tone of voice suggested she was pleased.

Shizuka nodded vigorously and Jounouchi did it less so.

"Be sure to thank Kaiba-san properly then," Saeko said before returning to her conversation with their father.

Shizuka reached across the table and grabbed his forearm. Her hands may be small, but her grip was strong. "We should buy Kaiba-san and Mokuba-kun presents to thank them!"

-x-x-x-

What do you buy for a man who could already afford anything? Jounouchi asked himself over and over again as they wandered from one shop to the next. This was a man who owned a custom jet modeled after his favorite Duel Monsters card. When he posed the same question to Shizuka, she cried, "It's the thought that counts!"

That was probably what Kaiba's fangirls told themselves, and look where that got them...

Shizuka was on a mission, and Jounouchi wouldn't discourage her from it. Never one to owe anyone, Jounouchi wasn't against repaying Kaiba's unexpected kindness. But he had neither much funds nor input to contribute to the matter. He sensed her growing frustration as he shot down every idea from ceramic mugs to fountain pens. She shot him almost resentful looks every time she returned merchandise back to their displays.

"What about these?" Shizuka held up two wool scarves for his inspection.

Even though the azure blue one complemented Kaiba's eyes, Jounouchi thinned his lips and said, "No."

She stamped her feet and demanded a reason. "Why not?!"

"It's too..." Personal? Intimate? Scarves were what girls gave to their boyfriends, especially hand-knit ones that they'd slaved over. Or so animes would have him believe. "It's too girly."

"Fine! Since everything I've suggested is an affront to your masculinity, why don't you handle Kaiba-san's on your own and I'll handle Mokuba-kun's."

She stomped away before he could reply. She even flipped her hair when she spun on her heels. His stomach sank and Jounouchi realized his little sister was very much a teenager now. Shit, he hoped Kaiba got to experience this with Mokuba someday soon. Misery loved company.

He shook his head and meandered through the clothing shop, even though he had no intention of buying Kaiba anything from here. He had no idea what Kaiba's sizes were or what sort of clothes he liked besides tight pants and flowing trenchcoats. Ties were a safe bet, but they had the opposite problem from the scarves of being too impersonal and too disposable. He imagined that Kaiba might have a walk-in closet just for his designer ties.

Buying stuff for Yuugi and the others was never this complicated. Probably because Yuugi would be happy with almost anything you'd get him, even the AV (1) that he and Honda slipped as a gag gift last year. Honda preferred experiences, like tickets to the movies or a day of hanging out. Anzu verged on the practical, so gift cards to her favorite shops were always a safe bet. Bakura was always on the lookout for new books, games, or gadgets related to the occult and tabletop RPGs. But Kaiba? Kaiba proved to be impossible to shop for.

They stopped by the bookstore next, partly looking for presents and partly because Shizuka loved them. The change in venue did nothing to inspire Jounouchi's gift-giving muse. Though Kaiba seemed to like reading, Jounouchi had no clue what kind of books he preferred. For all he knew, Kaiba binged on trashy romance novels and everyone was none the wiser because they were in English.

Shizuka found him fifteen minutes later, glowering death at a shelf of medical books. She took pity on him and tried to throw him a lifeline. "Onii-chan, it's not that hard. What does Kaiba-san like?"

"I don't know!" he exclaimed with a growing sense of panic.

"Think about it. You do know," she spoke as if she drew from an infinite well of wisdom, then left him alone to pay for her books.

Jounouchi scrubbed his face, sighed, then started from the beginning again.

Kaiba liked... Kaiba like Duel Monsters and he liked the Blue Eyes White Dragon a little too much. Kaiba loved his brother, even if he didn't always know how to act on it. His birthday was October 25th, which he treated it like any other day. He hailed from Nagasaki and his family name was Higata. When he slept, he favored his right side. He loved a challenge more, but his need to win verged on pathological. Despite his intelligence, he was an average student in the subjects he cared about and less so for the ones he didn't. He smoked imported British cigarettes and ate fruit chews during class.

And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bury the painful realities of his humanity.

Yeah, fucking hell, Jounouchi knew way more about Kaiba than he ever thought.

-x-x-x-

Something rocketed onto his futon, jolting Jounouchi from his slumber. He shivered and burrowed deeper into his pillow. Sleeping on the floor was chillier than being in his rickety bed, which he'd lent to his sister for the duration of her visit. The cold made him sluggish and indifferent to the world outside his futon.

Tiny fists twisted in his blanket and she shook him with great enthusiasm. "Onii-chan! It's snowing!"

Now that explained why his toes were freezing. Though Domino was further north than Sasebo, snow meant a drizzle of flakes that immediately melted after hitting the ground.

Shizuka vibrated with excitement and added, "It's a white Christmas!"

Want nothing more than a few more hours of sleep, he muttered, "That's cool."

After a moment, Shizuka went still. He turned his head sideways and took in her profile as she stared at the snow falling outside the window. The early morning light played strange tricks. Jounouchi could see all the parts that made his little sister, eternally eight at times, from the sparkle in her clear eyes to the fading baby fat in her cheeks. Her silent contemplation of the snow and the upward tilt of her chin cast an afterimage of the adult she'd become.

It was good she could still get this excited over snow. "Guess that's a good omen for today," he said.

She brightened and nodded vigorously. "I'm going to get breakfast started, so get up soon!"

By the time he emerged from beneath the futon, the smell of cooked rice permeated the apartment. He slipped into a fresh t-shirt, jeans, and a hoodie to ward against the cold. Their father was already up, dressed, and ladling out bowls of miso soup from a pot on their electric burner. Shizuka set three bowls of steaming rice and plates with egg and natto for each of them.

Jounouchi sat in his usual place, careful to avoid the wobbly leg. The tiny table was "cozy" for two, but "cramped" for three. They bumped elbows every time someone reached for more natto or their soup. Yet that hardly mattered when Shizuka regaled them with tales of her school friends and life in Sasebo. In return, Koji relayed jokes told by his construction work buddies and Jounouchi skated around the matter of his grades. Jounouchi hadn't seen his dad this much at peace in years.

"What time are we meeting Yuugi-san and the others?" she asked as she piled dishes into the kitchenette sink.

Jounouchi checked his watch. "In about an hour and a half. We should get going soon."

Their dad shooed them off. "You two have fun. I'll clean up."

Before they slipped out the front door, Koji pressed a wad of small bills into Jounouchi's palm. "Enjoy your time out with your sister. And pick up some KFC and a Christmas cake on your way home?"

"Where did you get extra money from?" he muttered, eyes flickering nervously to the side. Jounouchi Koji never had cash to spare after bills were paid, not unless… Visions of loan sharks danced in his head.

"It's fine. I saved it," at Jounouchi's incredulous expression, he added, "I haven't been to the pachinko parlor in two weeks. I swear!"

"Onii-chan, Otou-san, is everything okay?" Shizuka called with a note of impatience.

"We're good! Be there in a sec!" he pocketed the money and nodded to his dad. "I'll bring something home."

Koji smiled. It took the years off his face. "Have fun, you two."

-x-x-x-

Even though the park wouldn't open for another half hour, the entrance gates were a circus. No one minded the snow, and Jounouchi wouldn't be surprised if more people came out because of it. A deluge of Christmas music resounded from the park's PA system. Parkgoers ran the gamut from families corralling small children to couples on Christmas dates. They weren't the only group of teenagers meeting up with friends.

Yuugi and Bakura, the punctual ones in the group, were already waiting when Jounouchi and Shizuka arrived by bus. Anzu's mother was dropping her off, Honda ran late as usual, and no one had any idea where Otogi was or when he might arrive. Once in awhile, Jounouchi scanned the crowd for signs of a flamboyant trench coat or Mokuba's long hair.

Jounouchi shoved his hands deep in his sports jacket, fiddling with the "present" he'd bought late last night. He wrote off his nervous energy on the fact that he hadn't been back to KaibaLand since Death-T. In the two and a half years since then, Kaiba bought up the surrounding land and developed it into a full-fledged theme park. Death-T had been decommissioned and its building renovated into a state-of-the-art full-service cinema.

In the end, Otogi beat Honda by less than two minutes, and Anzu beat them both by fifteen. Honda arrived disgruntled, mumbling about his dog and nephew under his breath, but all the dark clouds dissipated when he spotted Shizuka. Shizuka greeted each of his friends with a deep bow and a wide smile, but Anzu was the only one to receive a hug.

"Come on! Mokuba-kun said he'd meet us inside!" Shizuka took his hand and dragged him toward the gates.

Once inside, they huddled around Anzu holding the park map wide while Yuugi read from the list of special events. It didn't take long before Jounouchi was embroiled in an argument with Honda about where to go and when to go.

"We can always split up and meet up again later," Otogi suggested.

Even Otogi hadn't given Shizuka a sideway glance, Jounouchi would have still seen through Otogi's plan. "No!"

Otogi was also not dissuaded by his objection. "Jounouchi, you don't get to decide for everyone else. We should take a vote."

"There's no need," Mokuba cut into the conversation, appearing right next to Jounouchi. "I have everything planned to the last detail. We'll have no problem hitting all the attractions and the special events."

Shizuka clapped her hands together. "That's wonderful! You're so thoughtful, Mokuba-kun!"

A rumble of agreement echoed through the group, though Otogi's was less sincere.

Jounouchi ruffled Mokuba's hair. He was glad to see the kid had dressed to blend with the crowd. Then again, Mokuba was usually lowkey except when he was standing next to Kaiba. Jounouchi craned his head back, expecting to find Kaiba half a step behind Mokuba. No such luck though. Jounouchi's good cheer dipped a little.

"Where's your brother?" he asked. Though his tone was even, the word fell flat to his own ears.

"Oh!" Mokuba hid his hands in his coat pocket and straightened. "Nii-sama said he'd join us later. He should have no problem finding us."

Jounouchi eyed one of the security cameras affixed to a lamppost. He had no doubt Kaiba could track their every move within the park. Kaiba might even prefer it that way. Jounouchi had hoped the two brothers might spend more time together outside of work. But they were in Kaiba's domain now, and it was out of Jounouchi's hands for the time being.

Jounouchi turned back to the group. "So where are we going first, kid?"

They rode the Blue Eyes Monorail around the perimeter of the park first. The elevated tracks offered an excellent view of all the attractions, but Jounouchi particularly enjoyed the heated interior of the car. As the monorail took the next turn, the biggest Christmas tree he'd ever seen swooped into view. Hell, the tree was almost as tall as the three-story castle it sat near. Strings of lights hung alongside bright garlands of blue and white, and its lofty branches supported an array of large ornaments. Many of them were Duel Monsters. The kicker was the the tree topper where three Blue Eyes White Dragons wound themselves around the star.

Jounouchi gaped, mouth hanging wider than the first time he saw Solid Vision in action. "Fuck, that's huge!" he exclaimed. He got dirty looks from several nearby parents standing.

"Of course, it's more than 28 meters tall," Mokuba puffed his chest. "We sourced it from the same place where the Rockefeller Center gets theirs."

Jounouchi had no idea where Rockefeller Center was, but Anzu squealed.

Mokuba continued, "We'll see it up close at the lighting ceremony later."

The next few hours flew by. Jounouchi lost count of how many different rides they went on, but they did the roller coaster twice. He refused to go into the haunted house no matter how much Anzu teased him, and they ate a late lunch at a Burger World franchise inside the park. Whether by design or accident, none of the employees batted an eye at Mokuba accompanying them. Jounouchi swiveled around every time he heard Kaiba's name, which was a lot when you were inside a theme park named after him. More than once, he waved at a security camera like an idiot.

Outside the funhouse, Honda slugged his shoulder and said, "Stop mooning over Kaiba. You're acting like you got stood up."

Jounouchi responded with a shove. "Fuck off, you and Otogi are the only morons embarrassing yourselves." It hadn't escaped his notice how his two friends jockeyed to ride with or stand in line with Shizuka. Even Shizuka was beginning to notice and grow more uncomfortable each time.

"If there's something you wanna tell me..."

No sooner than he spoke, Otogi led Shizuka out of the fun house. Honda looked like he might burst a vein. Jounouchi buried his face in his hands and wished a swift but painful death on both Honda and Otogi.

-x-x-x-

Somewhat to his dismay, the number of couples steadily increased over the course of the day. Around three, parents packed their young and exhausted children away for a nap and continued Christmas celebrations at home. By four, couples had replaced families as the majority. The tree lighting ceremony was the worst yet. He was surrounded by a sea of them.

The group was not immune to the new romantic atmosphere settling over the park. Yuugi and Anzu drifted ever closer together, while the competition for his sister's attention grew more heated. And Jounouchi? He was cold, wet, and had given up on the idea that Kaiba would show. Jounouchi sank deeper inside his hood and buried his chin into his jacket collar. Snow gathered on his head and he kept brushing it off so the snow wouldn't soak through the fabric of his hood. He planted himself between Shizuka and the others, daring Otogi or Honda to start shit.

The Christmas music faded when a familiar man with dark hair and sunglasses stepped up to the microphone. He ran through the standard greetings thanking everyone for coming. His stiff formality was in such stark contrast to the crowd's mood that Jounouchi bit back laughter. Then his mouth went dry when Kaiba took the makeshift stage.

Swathed in a black peacoat and navy blue scarf, Kaiba demonstrated none of his usual theatrics. Snowflakes clung to his bangs, and when he brushed them with one gloved hand, half the female audience (with boyfriends or not) swooned. Kaiba delivered his speech with the usual gravitas, but he didn't linger on how it impacted his audience. Maybe that was because this wasn't a Duel Monsters tournament. Or maybe like Jounouchi, Kaiba wanted nothing more than to get out of the snow.

When Kaiba threw the switch, the ginormous tree lit up like a bonfire. Behind it, an avenue of fairy lights illuminated the path to the castle. Jounouchi joined the crowd in a thunderous applause. Kaiba abandoned the stage to his black-suited employee, who segued into the night's entertainment. The first act gave a performance in English that resulted in every couple making cow eyes at each other. He should give the others a chance to enjoy the show, but Jounouchi only wanted to know where Kaiba went.

Mokuba bored of the entertainment quickly. He had a hand in planning it. Halfway through the second song, he signaled for Jounouchi's attention. "Let's catch Nii-sama before he gets away."

The others indicated they would follow after the song was over. Jounouchi charged after the younger Kaiba. They circled around the stage and several staff members nodded to Mokuba. Kaiba was waiting behind the tree, right under a Vorse Raider ornament hanging on a lower branch.

"You're here!" Jounouchi exclaimed, giddy.

Kaiba rolled his eyes and addressed Mokuba instead. "I trust your inspection turned up no problems." The soft glow in his eyes canceled out his nonchalant tone.

"You bet!" Mokuba held himself back for a moment, but launched to hug Kaiba's waist. Kaiba reciprocated by laying a hand on Mokuba's wet head.

"Kaiba-kun, good evening," Yuugi greeted when the rest of the group caught up.

"Yuugi," Kaiba inclined his head in greeting, then turned and added, "Jounouchi."

They all exchanged greetings which Kaiba responded to with varying degrees of warmth.

"I have some warm drinks set aside at the castle," Mokuba announced.

"You want to show off your handiwork is more like it," Kaiba drawled in a way that suggested he approved.

Mokuba turned his nose up, a pink flush dusting his cheeks. "I can do that and warm everyone up."

Jounouchi pumped his fist in the air. "Let's get going!"

They beat most of the crowd to the illumination lane by leaving early. Smaller Christmas trees and other holiday displays lined both sides of the path. Near the start waited a chorus of carolers that burst into song as soon as they approached. Upon closer examination, Jounouchi realized they were all holograms.

Mokuba led them, providing detailed explanations of the planning to Shizuka walking next to him. Honda and Otogi followed after like a pair of wayward puppies, occasionally glaring at each other. Anzu, Yuugi, and Bakura walked three abreast, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the little details. Jounouchi and Kaiba brought up the end of the group.

He wanted to ask where Kaiba had been all day. Mokuba hadn't been concerned though, and Jounouchi probably didn't need to be indignant on his behalf for once. More important was they were together in a group again for the first time since Okinawa. Jounouchi kept his mouth shut and enjoyed the happy happenstance instead.

The winter illumination show was the heart of KaibaLand's Christmas event and it was as brilliant as anything found in Tokyo. Other than the carolers, holograms were kept to a minimum. He admired a particularly intricate arrangement that depicted the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl twirling in mid-dance.

There was a certain charm to all the arrangements, a sense of romance even. If Kaiba himself had been in charge, would the show be nothing but his beloved Blue Eyes? He pushed his hood back for a better look at Kaiba's face, noting the ruddy cheeks and the long, snowflake-encrusted eyelashes. At the sight and the memory of the girls swooning during the ceremony, Jounouchi choked back a sound. The burning sensation in his chest made it difficult to tell if it was laughter or something else.

"What?" Kaiba barked.

Jounouchi pulled his hood tight as a shield. "Nothing, just your fucking princess eyelashes."

"My what?!"

Jounouchi sped up. The sooner they got inside the better. His cheeks stung from the cold.

-x-x-x-

After the group warmed up with hot chocolate, they discussed their next course of action. The snow had yet to lighten and given their late lunch, it was far too early for dinner. Yuugi suggested the arcade; it was indoors and they could blow an hour or two there easily.

They were not the only ones with the same idea. The arcade was a cacophony of lights, sounds, and sweltering heat. As soon as they stepped inside, Jounouchi and Honda tore off their outerwear. From there, Yuugi, Anzu, and Bakura each split off from the group. But Jounouchi stuck to Shizuka, who was hanging with Mokuba, which meant Kaiba came as part of the package. Honda and Otogi disappeared, but Jounouchi didn't let his guard down.

They weaved through the rows of arcade cabinets in search of free machines. Jounouchi saw that Anzu had already acquainted herself with the DDR machine. They ended up going to the far side of the building where carnival game booths lined the wall.

Jounouchi gestured toward the strength test machine and declared, "Bet I'm stronger than you, Kaiba."

"In your dreams, Jounouchi."

Much to both their disappointments, they tied.

"How?" Jounouchi demanded afterwards. "You're so freaking skinny!"

With a perfectly straight face, Kaiba said, "I know how to use my body to my advantage."

Jounouchi bit back a dirty comeback. (Because young and impressionable ears were listening!) Jounouchi tugged at his collar and wondered if the thermostat was broken. It was boiling.

He emerged victorious as the one with the better throwing arm at the next booth. Together, they accumulated a mountain of small prizes like keychains and stationary as they moved down the line.

Shizuka grabbed his arm and squealed, "Look, Onii-chan! It's adorable."

Jounouchi directed his attention to the row of stuffed animals strung across the length of the shooting gallery. Many of them were also Duel Monsters, and Shizuka singled out the one modeled after Rescue Cat. Next to it hung a sign identifying it as a top-tier prize.

"Don't worry, Shizuka-chan! I'll win it for you!" Honda popped up between him and Shizuka, then approached the booth with a determined expression. He slapped down several yen coins collected by the bored attendant and hefted one of the airsoft guns.

The shooting gallery had always been Honda's best festival game. It made up for the fact that he was terrible in everything else from catching goldfish to water balloons. But winning Rescue Cat required exceptional marksmanship. Honda came back dejected, bearing a lower tier prize for Shizuka.

"Ha! Watch how it's done," Otogi barged into the scene and swaggered to the booth,

Jounouchi felt no qualms about laughing when he fared worse than Honda. Bolstered by Otogi's failure, Honda went back for a second and then a third attempt. Otogi matched him each time because he always had more money than sense.

"I could ask the attendant to give us the doll." When Mokuba looked to his brother for permission, Kaiba shrugged.

Snickering, Jounouchi leaned back to brace his weight against the counter. "Let the two buttheads go at it. 'Sides, it doesn't mean much if you don't win it like a real man." Call him an ass, but he enjoyed watching Honda and Otogi make asses of themselves more.

"Ridiculous," Kaiba muttered under his breath.

So caught up in egging each other, neither Honda nor Otogi noticed Mokuba until he fired his first shot. They jumped at the noise. Mokuba sighted down the barrel with a concentration that Jounouchi recognized in Kaiba. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Mokuba hit each target in the bullseye in rapid succession.

The attendant handed over the Rescue Cat doll and Jounouchi's jaw dropped. "Does your brother take shooting lessons with those martial arts ones?" he asked Kaiba.

Kaiba smirked.

"Fuck, you two are scary."

If anything, Kaiba preened.

-x-x-x-

Scurrying through the cold and snow, they headed to their final destination of the night: the Ferris wheel. Mokuba claimed it was a perfect way to end the day— by taking one final look at the park from high above. Afterward, they'd all go their separate ways. Jounouchi held fast to his dad's money, intent on honoring the request for fried chicken and Christmas cake.

The massive Ferris wheel rivaled the one in Odaiba in size. As soon as the group approached it, Otogi pounced on Shizuka and took her hand. "Shizuka-chan, why don't we ride together?" He offered his usual, dazzling playboy grin.

Jounouchi's protective instincts reeled its head, but Honda beat him to it. Elbowing Otogi out of the way, Honda wedged himself between the two. "You're trying to get her alone with you!"

Otogi rolled his eyes, "Obviously, two people to a car would be ideal."

"Then Shizuka-chan can ride with me!"

Both boys glared at each other over the top of Shizuka's head. She looked hopelessly between the two boys. If Jounouchi knew his sister, she didn't want to offend the other boy by choosing between them. She clutched Rescue Cat closer to her chest.

"Actually," Mokuba spoke up, paused on the threshold of a car inside which a bored-looking Kaiba was seated. "Each of the car can hold up to four adults."

"Oh, I should ride with Mokuba-kun and Kaiba-san!" Shizuka exclaimed, weaving out from between Honda and Otogi. She raced up and gave the stunned Mokuba a gentle shove into the car before following him.

Jounouchi took one look at his crestfallen friends, who were both looking at him with a pleading expression, and followed his sister's example. "Oh, hell no, I'm not getting caught into the middle of this," he muttered to himself.

"Jounouchi!" Otogi and Honda protested, then glared at each other.

The ride attendant shut the door behind Jounouchi, leaving him standing in the middle of the car. Shizuka and Mokuba were sat together at one end, revisiting their favorite parts of the day. The car lurched as it began moving, and Jounouchi stumbled before making his way to the free spot next to Kaiba. Kaiba stared resolutely out the window on his side. Jounouchi wondered if he had finally reached his limit for group socialization.

Curious, Jounouchi twisted around to watch Yuugi, Anzu, and Bakura piled into a car, leaving Honda and Otogi in their wake. He snorted with laughter. The sound caught Kaiba's attention, and he raised an eyebrow in question.

"Honda and Otogi are stuck together now. Serves them right for fighting over my sister like she's a piece of meat," Jounouchi explained.

"Yes, I had noticed the," Kaiba paused to mull over his choice of words. "Competition."

"They've been like that since Battle City, which makes this your fault." Jounouchi poked Kaiba in the arm and stuck out his tongue.

Shizuka and Mokuba's chatter filled the car as they ascended into the air. Occasionally, they would throw a comment back to their older siblings, but Jounouchi and Kaiba were content to watch them. Jounouchi's shoulders bumped with Kaiba's whenever he checked on his friends.

"Mokuba did good," he said quietly. Despite the animated chatter across them, Jounouchi feared speaking might scatter this hard-earned peace like light refracted through ice. He quickly amended, "He did great actually."

"Of course," Kaiba spoke a-matter-of-fact, but Jounouchi heard how proud he was of Mokuba. "There was never any doubt in my mind."

"Stop it, you guys!" a flushed but pleased Mokuba snapped.

Jounouchi and Kaiba fell quiet again. Silence highlighted their close proximity, and Jounouchi became acutely aware of jolts that sent their knees knocking. Despite Mokuba's assurance that the cars were built to fit four adults, they probably weren't meant to have two men of Kaiba and Jounouchi's height sitting side-by-side. Something about the acoustics of the car amplified Kaiba's breaths to a deafening volume. They had never been this close together before...

Scratch that. His traitorous mind conjured up the memory of Okinawa on that final bus ride to the airport. Jounouchi had fallen asleep on Kaiba. He'd almost cuddled him! Jounouchi still wasn't sure how he managed to survive that encounter. He couldn't remember much, but that could have been a side-effect of his drowsiness at the time or his brain repressing everything in self-defense.

But this moment? Jounouchi couldn't repress it if he tried. Not when his entire body tingled like a live wire; a flash of heat swept through him like a meteor burning up in the atmosphere. Not when a cloying trace of tobacco teased his nose, making him crave a cigarette like there was no tomorrow. And Kaiba must hear how fast Jounouchi's heart was beating.

Jounouchi wiped a sweaty hand across his burning forehead. Had he gotten sick after a day of standing in the snow and cold? He wondered if he had enough money leftover for cold medicine. He jammed one hand back into his pocket in search of his wallet, but froze when he brushed against Kaiba's thank-you gift.

He peeked across the car. Shizuka and Mokuba were busy showing each other things on their phones. Jounouchi thrust the gift at Kaiba before his courage abandoned him completely. "Here."

It was a silly and small gift at best— a pack of grape Hi-Chews with a bow wrapped around it. It was cheap, but it was something that Jounouchi knew Kaiba would have a use for. Unlike a scarf or tie and anything else he probably owned several times over. It was something that Kaiba would like.

Jounouchi added, "It's to thank you for inviting us today."

A shadow passed over Kaiba's face, obscuring his expression in darkness. "It's not necessary."

"Take it. They don't give gift receipts at Lawson," he snapped and ran hot with embarrassment.

Kaiba took it without further argument and turned back to his window. Jounouchi wished he wouldn't leave it balanced on his lap as a mortifying reminder of Jounouchi's shame.

The Ferris wheel ground to a halting stop, leaving their carriage suspended at the very top. Frost tinted the glass windows, blurring and softening the sea of lights beneath their feet.

"You really can see the entire park from up here," Shizuka said with wonder.

Mokuba pressed his nose against the glass, squinting to see past his own foggy breath. "We do fireworks in the summer and these are the best seats in the park."

Kaiba swept one gloved hand across the window to wipe away the condensation. Jounouchi could see everything from the castle to the Christmas trees, to the arcade's neon lights, to the streak of blue and yellow as the monorail raced by. From this height, the people were barely distinguishable as blobs of shadow cutting a path through the bright parts. The scenery invited him to sink into the warmth and peace of the moment.

Jounouchi leaned forward toward the window, lost in the display of lights and life. Kaiba's quickening breath broke his trance and their gazes locked, blinding them both like deers caught in a headlight. Get back! Get back! Jounouchi's brain screeched at his unmoving body bracketing Kaiba against the side of the carriage.

Right at the same time that Jounouchi tried to spring away from Kaiba, the ride started up again. The extra momentum threw off his balance. But Kaiba reacted without hesitation, slinging an arm under Jounouchi's armpit and keeping him upright. From this angle, Kaiba didn't feel as scrawny as he looked. He felt wiry and athletic in a way that Jounouchi was not.

"I'm good," Jounouchi's words didn't feel like they were his.

Kaiba released him, and he sunk back into his seat. Jounouchi fixed his eyes on the floor for the rest of the way down. He wanted to blame the holidays for the tangled mess of thoughts rolling in his head. He wanted to blame Honda and Otogi. God help him, he even wanted to blame Shizuka.

But what he couldn't blame it on was a cold or a fever. Because he wasn't sick, unless you counted being sick in the head. Unless... you counted lovesick. His body hummed with the realization. Someone could run a bow across his chest and he'd play like a violin.

On some level, he'd always known Kaiba was his type. Namely, Kaiba was the right mix of confident, dangerous, and so-not-good-for-Jounouchi. All his… well, exes really, were like that and it got Jounouchi into trouble every damn time. But befriending Yuugi had changed Jounouchi and turned over a new leaf. Jounouchi didn't need extra trouble when they had the Millennium Puzzle to deal with. Kaiba's unwarranted attractiveness aside, his personality and ruthlessness left a lot to be desired.

That was more than two years ago. Kaiba had changed. He was still changing because weren't they all? Fuck, fine, Kaiba was (still) hot! Jounouchi could admit that much. It wasn't like Jounouchi's heart skipped a beat whenever they touched or Kaiba smiled at his brother or…

When they reached the ground again, Jounouchi shot out of his seat and did his best not to stumble off the ride. Mokuba and Shizuka filed out after him, then finally Kaiba with his stupid, handsome face and suave wardrobe that fooled you into thinking he might be a normal person. And he still held onto Jounouchi's dumb, cheap-ass gift, because he hadn't laughed and thrown the fucking thing away.

Jounouchi stomped down the need to slug him— kiss him— to do both. Shit, he was in so much trouble.

* * *

(1) AV = adult video. So yeah, basically porn.

General thoughts:  
Bakura started his campaign with a Shadowrun homebrew. When he collected their character sheets, he exchanged them for an equivalent character in Call of Cthulhu. Both systems are popular in Japan and have official translations. Special thanks to M for his help planning and executing that scene. We enjoyed hashing out Bakura's sadistic DM tendencies a lot.

I used Takahashi-sensei's map of KaibaLand for reference this chapter, but I didn't reproduce it entirely. There's even more Blue Eyes themed attraction and a giant statue of Kaiba himself?!


	7. Karma Cut

**Chapter 7: Karma Cut**

_January  
The new year forces Kaiba to view Jounouchi in a new light. Until he realizes it's not so new after all.  
_

* * *

High above, suspended among the stars, they found sanctuary in their own world. KaibaLand closed hours ago, yet they remained at the apex of the Ferris wheel. No sound or light could touch them, save their tandem heartbeats or the moon that Jounouchi wore as his crown. Moonlight weaved a spell through Jounouchi's golden hair but veiled his face in darkness. Kaiba's head fell back and hit the wall with a thud that echoed through his body. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted Jounouchi's arms caging him against his seat.

Kaiba should get away. He also didn't want to get away.

"Kaiba," Jounouchi muttered. His words smoldered like embers.

Their eyes made contact, stoking a fire in the pit of his belly. Kaiba reached out to grab to cup Jounouchi's burning cheeks. They drew close, sharing the same breath, and crashed into each other. Jounouchi's lips moved against his with urgency and hunger. Kaiba pulled him in until Jounouchi was sprawled across his lap and their chests pressed flush against each other. Jounouchi's hair was silk beneath his fingers— his skin a tantalizing tapestry.

They kissed long and desperate. Kaiba craved more— needed more of those throaty sounds of Jounouchi's spilling through the seams of their joined lips. When Jounouchi threw his head back, Kaiba latched onto the slim neck illuminated by the heavens above.

"Fuck, Kaiba!" he moaned, hands scrambling to find purchase on Kaiba's shoulders.

Jounouchi ground down. With a strangled gasp, Kaiba became aware of his erection pressed up between Jounouchi's ass cheeks. He didn't think he'd ever been this hard in his life. He bucked his hips, seeking more delicious friction and pressure to heighten his pleasure. Jounouchi swooped and reclaimed his lips in a biting kiss that shot electricity down his spine. Armed with his tongue and a hint of teeth, Kaiba fought back. He wouldn't be satisfied until he had Jounouchi begging and pleading for more.

The next time that Jounouchi moved away, Kaiba tried to chase him. Jounouchi shook his head and pressed him back against his seat. He slid off Kaiba's lap and fell to his knees. His question lodged in his throat when Jounouchi's hands crept up his inner thigh. The sly grin plastered over his swollen lips provided all the answers Kaiba could want and more.

Kaiba's legs fell open and Jounouchi re-positioned himself between them. Without warning, Jounouchi leaned forward to mouth his erection through the fabric. He buried both hands in Jounouchi's hair, grunting. A wicked hand slipped between them, undoing his fly. Kaiba thought his heart might burst but all he wanted was to bury—

Kaiba awoke in cold sweat with a pounding heart and blood pulsing southward. He sought the time, refusing to dwell on the dream even as the images burned themselves onto the inside of his eyelids. A strip of sunlight illuminated the clock on his nightstand. The time was just after seven in the morning. A new year had dawned with the new day.

-x-x-x-

He flew through his morning routine in a rage. As he brushed his teeth, he glared at the mirror like it contained his worst enemy and spat out the toothpaste like it was poison. His mental litany of cursing continued as he tore through his closets, looking for something to wear. After taking one look at him, the morning maid passed him a cup of sencha and a bowl of dashi broth before fleeing to spread warning of his foul mood.

Kaiba smiled then. It had been a long time since he derived any pleasure from terrorizing his house staff. The thought immediately soured though. That had been a bad pre-Death-T habit, and one that Mokuba gleefully copied. They both paid for it when no one raised a hand to keep Pegasus from snatching Mokuba in their very home. A loyal house staff benefited Mokuba's safety far more than a fearful one, and Kaiba had already cleaned house once after they returned from Duelist Kingdom. As quickly as that old, cruel streak flared to life, it died even faster, taking his misplaced anger at Jounouchi with it.

It wasn't as if that was his first sex dream, even if that was the first time Jounouchi played a starring role. Isono had featured in a far more disturbing one last year and Kaiba managed to look his aide in the eye just hours later. Blaming Jounouchi was akin to admitting that the dream got to him. (Which it didn't because Kaiba Seto didn't ascribe particular significance to dreams, first dream of the new year or not.)

Kaiba hadn't seen Jounouchi since Christmas Eve, and they hadn't spoken since their exchange on the Ferris wheel. Jounouchi had looked ill afterward; like he'd ridden a centrifuge instead of an amusement park ride. What would Kaiba even say or do if he hunted Jounouchi down now? Jounouchi would ask questions, and Kaiba'd refused to answer them. Or if he answered, it'd be all the more awkward. Their interactions had finally settled into a familiar and somewhat pleasant place.

Mokuba was late to rise despite being the one to insist they adhere to new year rituals. By the time he stumbled down to breakfast, Kaiba's logic reigned triumphant in the cold light of day.

Dreams were the brain's way of processing miscellaneous data. With human brains being the result of conflicting evolutionary pressures, that process wasn't always a straightforward one. Dreams, as inconvenient and messy as they were, came as part of the package of being human. It was something he was resigned to live with because he couldn't forgo sleep completely without the added side-effect of going insane.

By the time they climbed into the car, he had resolved to forget the dream as readily as he had the one with Isono.

Stalking through the shrine gates, a horrifying thought struck him. Even if he didn't go looking for Jounouchi, Jounouchi might find him first. For one, Mokuba spent time with the group on and off through the holidays. He stared at the back of his brother's head and hoped that would not be the case today. Mokuba marched straight to join the line for the altar and made no efforts to look for other people. Kaiba joined him reluctantly, still hyper-aware of his surroundings.

It was early enough that the line moved quickly. Mokuba gave offerings and rung the bell for them both. Kaiba clasped his hands together in prayer. Another new year, but it would be his last year of schooling. After March, Kaiba would be able to dedicate all his time to the company. Maybe he'd duel Yuugi for his title again. Maybe he'd even win now that the Pharaoh was out of the picture.

A familiar-sounding male laugh broke his reverie. Kaiba's eyes snapped open and he jerked around to locate the source. It wasn't Jounouchi though. It wasn't anyone Kaiba knew. He shot a glower across the courtyard and the teenage boy shut up abruptly.

After offering their prayers, Mokuba dragged him to buy a protection charm and their fortunes. Kaiba picked out one for academic success for his brother, while Mokuba responded with the one for protection against evil. Kaiba rolled his eyes but pocketed the charm. His fortune declared great luck for the new year, much to Mokuba's delight. His brother's mediocre fortune earned a deep sigh until Kaiba swapped theirs.

"But Nii-sama!" Mokuba whined.

"We make our own success, Mokuba," he reminded him.

A pile of new year's greeting cards waited for them when they returned home. Most came from business associates, decorated with flowing scripts wishing prosperity on the Kaiba household in the coming year. One of them showcased a menagerie of Duel Monsters, which was not unusual in itself, but the array of sloppy greetings caught him by surprise.

Mokuba peered over his shoulder and exclaimed, "It's from Yuugi and the others! Now I'm really glad I sent them one."

Everyone had signed it: Yuugi, Mazaki, Honda, Bakura, Otogi, and even Sugoroku. His gaze lingered on Jounouchi's chicken-scratch of a signature, a shiver running down his spine. He set it aside in the keep pile, knowing Mokuba would want to hold onto it.

-x-x-x-

With the company to occupy him full-time, Kaiba put Jounouchi firmly out of mind. He kept his eyes fixed on the road when he drove past the Lawson where Jounouchi worked. His face betrayed nary a hint after Mokuba came home after sending Shizuka off with Yuugi and the others. Despite the occasional craving, he didn't smoke any of the remaining cigarettes from the carton he had shared with Jounouchi. He didn't open the top drawer of his study desk in which he'd stowed Jounouchi's gift or the new year's card he'd saved for Mokuba.

Out of sight, out of mind.

When he returned to school during the second week of the new year, he felt nothing as he strolled past the gates. The entrance looked the same. His shoe locker still didn't close right on its hinges. The classroom door squeaked because no one on the duty roster had oiled it yet. His desk sat where it had for the last several months, two columns from the door and five rows away from the chalkboard. Jounouchi's desk still sat in the row before his.

Everything was the same because nothing should have changed.

He sat and pulled his book out. He had started the microhistory on olive oil over the break, and it was an engaging read. But sitting in the classroom, he couldn't concentrate on the words. He read the same paragraph three times before giving up. As he lowered the book, Jounouchi shuffled into view.

Kaiba was so caught up in not thinking about Jounouchi that he'd neglected to plan for this exact moment. Jounouchi froze like he hadn't expected Kaiba to be there. Which was ridiculous because where else would Kaiba be? Kaiba took a step back from himself and tried to catalog his thoughts and feelings. He hadn't immediately wanted to deck Jounouchi. That was probably a good thing. He wasn't displeased to see Jounouchi, but he hadn't been in months. Most importantly, Jounouchi didn't seem any more or less inviting— any more or less... just Jounouchi.

Jounouchi slammed his bag on his desk and twirled to face him fully with a goofy smile. "Heyya, Kaiba!"

"Jounouchi," he greeted, thrown off by the shift in attitude.

Jounouchi met his gaze for a second, then flicked his eyes to some point behind Kaiba. "How was the rest of your break, man? I bet you worked the entire time."

"I did."

"Cool, cool, cool."

They lapsed into silence. Jounouchi continued to stare at something in the back of the classroom. After another second, he threw himself into his seat, turned his back to Kaiba, and continued to babble, "Coming back to school sucks. I barely finished the homework, but it was worth blowing it off to spend more time with Shizuka. Don't tell her though. She'd probably get mad at me."

Kaiba nodded and listened, hoping that by talking, Jounouchi would burn off some of his nervous energy. He focused on the back of Jounouchi's head, tracing the shaggy locks to where they dipped inside his collar. His shirt tag peeked out between the blue and gold. Kaiba didn't reach out to tuck the errant tag back into place. He didn't comb his finger through Jounouchi's hair. He didn't grip the nape of Jounouchi's neck to feel how his spine curved.

Meanwhile, Jounouchi spoke faster and faster while drumming his fingers on the wood. "By the way, Shizuka loved the trip to KaibaLand. I mean everyone did. We were all proud of Mokuba's hard work," he ducked his head, muffling his next words though Kaiba heard him. "Right, I had fun too. You've done a lot with the place since... Well, you know. I know Mokuba probably made you, but thanks for letting us come."

Kaiba frowned. The tickets hadn't been Mokuba's idea though. Originally, Kaiba meant to give two to Jounouchi and his sister. It was partly to thank Jounouchi for bringing Mokuba's problems to his attention, but also as a reminder that Mokuba could perform under pressure. But once Mokuba found out, he glommed onto the idea of inviting everyone and making it a big play date.

He wanted to tell Jounouchi that he was wrong. It didn't seem fair for Mokuba to get all the credit. But Kaiba kept his mouth shut, said nothing, and glowered at his desk.

"Hey, Kaiba, is everything okay?" Jounouchi asked softly.

He started and looked up to meet Jounouchi's nervous gaze. He didn't linger on how close Jounouchi sat or how the real Jounouchi's lips were chapped. He expected to feel something more and was almost disappointed when he didn't.

Kaiba cleared his throat. "Everything's fine."

-x-x-x-

Something tickled at Kaiba's nose. He sniffed and realized it was the ashy scent of tobacco drifting from Jounouchi. Kaiba was more or less immune to secondhand smoke, but Jounouchi was still smoking that same cheap shit that made him want to gag. It drove him to distraction all through morning classes.

He wondered why Jounouchi went through these fits and starts with smoking. During Christmas, it seemed he'd stopped again. Kaiba expected nothing less with Jounouchi's sister visiting for the holidays. But here they were three days into the new trimester, and Jounouchi had started up again.

As soon as break started, Kaiba tapped on Jounouchi's shoulder and hissed, "You stink."

Jounouchi shot him a disbelieving look. Then he lifted one arm and sniffed at his armpit.

"Like tobacco," Kaiba added through clenched teeth.

Sheepish, Jounouchi scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck and apologized. "Ah, sorry, I couldn't help myself this morning."

He got up and left the room before Kaiba could say anything else. When he returned, the stink was less oppressive, smothered under a layer of air freshener. Kaiba gave a curt nod in thanks, and Jounouchi gave an uneasy smile.

When lunch started, Jounouchi swiveled around in his seat and asked, "Can I bum a you-know-what offa ya?"

Kaiba should've been peeved by Jounouchi's presumption. "What makes you think I have any?"

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Of course, you got some. You probably carry a carton all the time just to prove you don't need it or something stupid like that."

"It's called having self-control," he snarked back.

"Come on, Kaiba. I'm dying here," then Jounouchi clapped his hands together and nettled, "Please? I'll buy you juice or something in repayment."

He quickly weighed his options. One way or another, Jounouchi was bent on indulging his vice. Better he smoke one of Kaiba's brand than go out and buy another pack of his usual shit.

"Fine," he grumbled, grabbed his suitcase, and stood. "Follow me."

Part of him was surprised by Jounouchi's obedience. He must really want that cigarette. They climbed the stairs to the roof access. When they stepped out on the roof, the brisk air slapped them in the face. They were alone; no one else was interested in braving the cold.

"You could have passed one to me in the classroom," Jounouchi whined.

Taking a seat on the ledge, Kaiba balanced his briefcase on his lap, unsnapped it, and rummaged for the open pack he tossed in last week. He found it under a stack of market research reports. Jounouchi squatted next to him, eagerly grabbing the box when it was passed to him. Kaiba's hand felt warm in all the places where he and Jounouchi touched.

Jounouchi lit his cigarette. As he exhaled, he slid to the concrete rooftop and wedged his back against the ledge.

Kaiba sat ramrod straight. Jounouchi's head was positioned at his thigh level, and if he turned to his right, he would press his cheek against Kaiba's hip.

"Hey," Jounouchi leaned his head back to gaze up at Kaiba. "You want one?"

Kaiba shook his head. Tearing his eyes from Jounouchi's exposed neck, he tidied the documents he'd shifted. His mouth was dry enough. Smoking would exacerbate it. It bore repeating; he had self-control that Jounouchi did not.

Jounouchi shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said before focusing on his cigarette. He tapped the carton against the concrete with his free hand. The sound was a steady accompaniment to Kaiba's staccato heartbeat.

Kaiba exhaled a controlled breath and snapped his briefcase closed. "You can keep it if you want."

Jounouchi plucked the cigarette from his lips and gasped. "You're unusually generous today! Oh my God, you're not dying, are ya?"

Upon hearing the familiar humor in Jounouchi's voice, the tension in Kaiba's stomach unfurled. The teasing was good-natured. It was comforting. It was something he didn't know he needed until this moment. Instead, he rolled his eyes and said, "I can afford it. One carton will hardly dent the estate I'm leaving for Mokuba."

Jounouchi poked him in the ribs, and though he didn't apply much force, he nearly unseated Kaiba. "Oh my god, stop talking like that. Don't you know how inauspicious it is to say shit like that?"

"You brought it up first."

"Ugh!" Jounouchi shoved the carton into Kaiba's lap. "Take your hoity-toity cigarettes and forget I said anything."

Kaiba took the pack reluctantly, brushing heated fingers with Jounouchi's. Their eyes met briefly, but Jounouchi looked away first, curling into a ball and ducking his head until his unruly hair hid most of his face from view.

Jounouchi muttered distractedly around the smoke between his lips, "I really need to stop. Forgot what a pain in the ass it is to be constantly freezing my ass off for a quick fix."

Kaiba nodded in agreement. The tips of Jounouchi's ear stood stark red against the yellow of his hair.

The next day, Jounouchi lured him back to the roof with a sheepish smile and a can of fruit juice. Kaiba busied himself with the juice, fending off the urge to join Jounouchi with a cigarette.

"You said you were going to stop," he complained before taking a long sip. Jounouchi should have had the decency to bribe him with a hot drink from the vending machine.

Jounouchi scrubbed the back of his neck and bumped shoulders with Kaiba. "Ah, can't help it. I dunno. Maybe I have whaddya call it," then Jounouchi snapped his fingers. "Oral fixation, right?"

Kaiba choked on his drink and sputtered. Jounouchi laughed before reaching over and slapping Kaiba's back several times. When Kaiba got his lungs under control again, he shoved Jounouchi away. "You're disgusting." His face burned hot.

"Now who's got their mind in the gutter?" Jounouchi guffawed.

Kaiba slipped the pack in Jounouchi's pocket. Jounouchi's face fell when he discovered it after returning to the classroom. Kaiba tried not to think too hard about why.

-x-x-x-

Jounouchi wasn't the only one brimming with restlessness. A frenzy soon seized the classroom days into the new trimester, squeezing the life and joy out of his classmates. Yuugi nearly bowed under the extra weight of his bookbag. Bakura wandered in each day, clutching note cards and reciting unintelligibly like a man possessed. To be on the safe side, Kaiba avoided him altogether.

College entrance exams loomed large on the horizon. Once again, he was grateful that he wasn't subject to the same pedestrian concerns as his peers. For them, it was pass or face the shame of being ronin.

"Anzu, you're so lucky you don't have to take entrance exams," Honda bemoaned.

Yuugi and the others docked some nearby desks with Jounouchi's to eat lunch. Though Kaiba didn't sit with them, he didn't move his desk away either.

Mazaki cast a stern look in Honda's direction. "That's because I took mine last year. I applied to four colleges abroad, remember?"

"And you got accepted to almost all of them," Yuugi said with starry eyes.

She muttered something unflattering about Juilliard under her breath.

Though Kaiba kept his eyes glued to his reports, he spoke, "Congratulations."

They fell dead silent, shocked by his words. Kaiba meant what he said. It wasn't an easy accomplishment and he could recognize the hard work she did to get there. But if they were going to treat him like this every time, he'd keep his mouth shut from now on.

"Thanks, Kaiba-kun!" she beamed and tried to offer him something from her bento.

He declined with a shake of his head.

They flitted from topic to topic as Kaiba continued to half-listen in on the conversation. Like when they spent several minutes on the upcoming Duel Monsters booster set. He caught himself almost nodding in agreement with Yuugi's assessment. But they moved into a discussion about weekend plans (or a decided lack when all the exam students bemoaned their need to cram for exams), he tuned them out to focus on the project budget.

"Jounouchi-kun, your birthday's coming up soon, isn't it?" Bakura asked.

Kaiba glanced up in time to watch Jounouchi shrug. "Yeah, uh, it's in two weeks."

"We should all go out to celebrate next weekend!" Yuugi exclaimed.

"Oh, good idea! Where should we go? The movies? The arcade?" Mazaki threw out several more suggestions.

Kaiba took that as his cue to tune them out. They could go to Hokkaido and it was still none of his business. He periodically peeked over his papers when Jounouchi laughed particularly loud. He made it less than halfway through the report by the time lunch was over. As Kaiba packed away his report, Jounouchi twirled, releasing the lower lip he had been chewing on and gave a huff.

He considered discouraging Jounouchi from taking these liberties. Not that Jounouchi had ever listened before or ever. "What?"

"We made plans to go to the movies and then bowling next Sunday. It's supposed to be for my birthday, but it'll be a good chance for everyone to blow off steam after exams." Jounouchi squared his shoulders and declared, "You should come too. Mokuba's welcome, of course."

A rejection sat on the tip of Kaiba's tongue, held back by the hopeful expression on Jounouchi's face. Kaiba swallowed the lump in his throat and blurted out, "I may be available," then he hastily added, "But I need to check my schedule."

Jounouchi was undeterred as his grin brightened by several thousand watts. "Cool, I'll text you the details later!"

Kaiba spent the rest of the afternoon staring at the chalkboard without processing anything the teachers said. That wasn't unusual in itself. He spent most of his time in school tuning out the teachers. If they weren't trying to lecture him, they were giving lessons on concepts he'd learned years ago or subjects he could care less about. Jounouchi hummed through the rest of the lessons, staring into space with an excited and goofy smile. The sight caused tension to in Kaiba's gut.

When the messages arrived on his phone later, he stared at it, filled with disbelief. The notifications chimed three times in succession.

_10 AM next Sunday at the Domino Cinemas,_ followed by an address.

Two seconds later: _BTW this is Jounouchi._

Finally a minute afterward: _Got your info from Mokuba._

Kaiba debated long and hard about whether or not to delete the message and pretend he never received it. And he spent twice as long wondering if he should save Jounouchi's contact information. In the end, he neither deleted the text nor saved Jounouchi's number.

-x-x-x-

The weekend was a blessing in disguise. Though his employees might not appreciate the offset work hours, his personal productivity skyrocketed. He reviewed specs and set performance standards for the next generation of Duel Disks. He ran a planning meeting to cement the year's developmental roadmap for KaibaLand. He allocated budgets for approved project proposals.

Kaiba almost got through the weekend without thinking about anyone from school, Yuugi included. That was until early Sunday afternoon when he walked into a bookstore downtown to pick up a special order. After paying, he heard something curious on his way to the exit.

"Jounouchi, it doesn't hurt to plan for the future."

Kaiba's ears burned. There wasn't more than a handful of Jounouchis in Domino City, and the speaker sounded familiar. Before he knew it, his feet took him to the end of the shelf so that he could see his two classmates in the next aisle.

Jounouchi's expression was sour even in profile. Mazaki stood facing him with her back to Kaiba. Strangely enough, it was just the two of them.

Jounouchi pulled one hand from his pocket and scrubbed the back of his neck. "I know. I'm just not on the same level as you guys. College's wasted on someone like me. Can you imagine? Me? A salaryman? Hah!"

Mazaki sighed. "It's about exploring your options. You don't have to have all the answers now."

"You do!"

"This isn't about me."

"No, it's about me not meeting your arbitrary standards."

Kaiba suspected this was not their first time having this conversation.

"Jounouchi—"

"I'm not going to talk about this right now," he declared and dodged around her. Jounouchi froze when he spotted Kaiba.

She spun around to stop Jounouchi and gasped, covering her mouth with her palm. "Kaiba-kun!"

"Hey, Kaiba!" Jounouchi exclaimed. Though he smiled, his eyes remained flat and his lips stretched taut over gritted teeth. "Coincidence seeing you here! Buying some books, huh?" He gestured to the bag in Kaiba's hands.

A sense of unease settled over Kaiba. He hoped he wasn't giving the impression he was eavesdropping, because he wasn't. "Yes, I'm headed back to the office," he said, hoping it would afford him an easy escape.

"Oh, cool, lemme walk with you. There's been something I've been meaning to ask Mokuba." Before Kaiba could stop him, Jounouchi took Kaiba's elbow and escorted them toward the exit. He shouted an insincere apology at Mazaki. "I'll see you at school, Anzu."

Kaiba peeked over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of her resigned expression before they rounded the corner and moved out of sight. Jounouchi kept moving though, stalwartly marching toward the door and dragging Kaiba behind him. He finally released him a block away from the bookstore.

"Sorry about that," Jounouchi muttered and kicked a stray rock. "But if I had to listen to her lecture me for another second longer, I was gonna start punching stuff."

Kaiba rolled his shoulders, trying to rid his arm of the tingling sensation. "That's twice you've used me as an excuse to ditch someone."

Jounouchi cracked a smile— a blessedly genuine one. It was a vast improvement over his fake one. "Hah, that's right. You're my knight in shining armor rescuing me from social awkwardness," then he pitched his voice in a high soprano and drawled, "How should I repay you, kind sir? With a kiss from a fair maiden?" He puckered his lips in exaggeration.

"You're full of shit." He shot Jounouchi a look of disgust, but he was more horrified by the thrill that raced down his spine.

Jounouchi laughed. It was a bright and crystalline sound— like glass bottles tumbling out of a box and shattering to pieces as they hit the ground. "I'm joking, Kaiba. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

Sensing he wouldn't win this argument, Kaiba shook his head and headed for the office. Jounouchi scrambled to fall into step at his side, hands jammed deep in his jacket pockets in the very picture of thuggish concentration. The Sunday crowd in downtown Domino came from all walks of life: students, couples, families with small children, and the occasional salaryman working overtime. Jounouchi should have faded into this backdrop of normalcy, but he stuck out like a sore thumb with his bright yellow hair.

Jounouchi stopped to watch a group of university students duck into a local restaurant. Then he shook his head and scoffed, "Me go to college? Like that's gonna happen."

Unable to stop himself, Kaiba muttered, "No." At Jounouchi's vaguely wounded look, he added, "Not this year, with your current grades and the exams being next weekend. But I hadn't expected Yuugi to try either. He ranked 372 last year."

Jounouchi shifted his weight to the right, away from Kaiba. "Honda's worse. He was number 380. Pretty sure the only reason he's taking the exam is to get out of the job his old man set aside for him."

"Then there's hope for you yet."

"Uh, my man, you're looking at number 392."

Kaiba scrunched his face. Given how low Yuugi and Honda scored, Kaiba shouldn't be surprised, but still... "That's... abysmal," he groaned. The idea of a rank that low was almost physically painful to him.

"Right?" Jounouchi sighed. "I get that she wants what's best for me, but not everyone has their entire life planned out. It's not my fault she's known what she's wanted to do since she was ten. I mean, who does that?"

Kaiba glanced over, catching Jounouchi's gaze.

"Right, duh, I guess the great Kaiba Seto always know what he wants." Jounouchi's grin took the edge off his sarcastic tone. Kaiba's stomach swooped.

He averted his gaze, focused on the glass doors into his office building. Kaiba Seto wanted a lot of things in life. He could be a greedy and selfish man after all. He wanted his brother to be safe and happy. He wanted his company to dominate at the top of the market. He still wanted to beat Atem, even though his chances had long slipped through his grasp. He wanted Gozaburo and the Big Five to rot in hell.

"Yes, but we don't always get what we want," he said, chest tight. He quickened his pace toward his sanctuary, while Jounouchi's words and the memory of his body almost draped across Kaiba in the Ferris wheel dogged his heel.

For once, Jounouchi didn't follow, nor did he have a witty response to fire as a parting shot.

-x-x-x-

Classes on Monday started like any other day. Kaiba had regrouped over Sunday evening and encountered no more strange Jounouchi-related mental tics. Mazaki and Bakura led the class through morning greetings. Haruna took attendance. There were no absentees. But before homeroom ended, she announced that their math teacher was out sick.

"Kinoshita-sensei has the flu and is home resting. Your first class will be self-study until she's well again. You may take the time to study for your entrance exams if you wish," she said and gathered her papers.

At the very mention of college entrance exams, the tension in the room jumped a notch. Everything fell deathly quiet until Haruna left them altogether. Kaiba didn't know who started it, but other students came together to form study groups. Yuugi and the rest clustered near Anzu and Honda's desks near the front. Jounouchi hung back though.

Their collective anxiety could make any person sick to their stomach, and it grew worse with every passing minute. Fed up, Kaiba packed his things and beat a quick retreat to the unused building around the back. He set up his laptop at one of the old desks, but it forced him into an uncomfortable posture to see his screen. After he gave up on the desk and took a seat against the wall, a nearby window creaked. Kaiba glanced up and watched as Jounouchi heaved himself through the opening before landing on his hands and feet.

"Oh," Jounouchi said with a slight blush when he saw Kaiba. "Didn't know you were here. I thought you went to the library or something."

"This is better," Kaiba waited for annoyance to settle in, but none came. "Shouldn't you have stayed with your friends?"

"They're studying and Anzu's helping them. I..." Jounouchi gnawed on his lower lip. "I didn't want to get in the way. Should I leave?"

"Do as you please," he muttered and looked down at his laptop. Inside, he was torn between wanting Jounouchi to stay and go.

Kinoshita was absent the next day too. When Kaiba caught Jounouchi climbing through the window again, he sighed and said, "Use the front door tomorrow. I'll leave it unlocked for you." He tried not to think about the flutter in his belly every time they met like this.

-x-x-x-

"Do you still play chess?"

"No, why do you ask?" Kaiba glanced up from his laptop. All he could see of Jounouchi was his back, hunched over an abandoned desk. Over the last two days, Jounouchi had taken to scratching doodles into the woodgrain surface. Kaiba didn't care enough about school property to tell him off.

Jounouchi shrugged with a heavy roll of his shoulders. "Just making conversation. I read an article that said you were some kind of chess genius."

He wondered how old the article was. He hadn't played chess in years; not since Gozaburo passed. His accomplishments in Duel Monsters— between his play record and his technological contributions— far outshone any trophy he used to win for chess. Kaiba focused his attention on his email, finished his sentence, and replied, "I did beat a Grandmaster when I was ten."

Jounouchi whistled. "Is there anything you're not good at?"

He was self-aware enough to know there was plenty but too proud to admit to anyone. "Hn."

"Chess is such a brainy game. It figures you'd be good at it." Jounouchi threw his arms back, propped both feet up on the desk he was defacing and tipped his chair back on its hind legs. For a second, the momentum looked like it was about to send him flying back into the floor. But the posture held, belying its precariousness with a lazy grace.

Kaiba flicked his eyes back to his half-finished email. This one was taking all his concentration to write. He pushed through, shoving Jounouchi to the periphery as much as he could with minimal success.

"Hey, can you teach me how to play?" Jounouchi asked several moments later.

"Play what?"

"Chess."

"I don't see why not," Kaiba muttered distractedly. He was almost done and Jounouchi went mercifully quiet after he answered.

He didn't think anything further would come of the subject of chess. In fact, Kaiba forgot about it until Jounouchi came in the next morning and plopped a travel chess set on a table. Kaiba should have known better though. Jounouchi followed through on some of the stupidest shit, so why not Kaiba's half-assed promise of a chess lesson?

Jounouchi gave a toothy grin when Kaiba shot him a questioning look. "I borrowed it from Yuugi! Now teach me."

Kaiba considered turning him down, but work was slow. Jounouchi stared back with such an expectant and eager expression. He sighed and reached for the white king. "This is not the most powerful piece in the game, but it is the most important," he began.

As it turned out, Jounouchi demonstrated none of his usual beginner's luck with chess. It took him three losing games to grasp the basics of the Scholar's Mate and another two to play through the obvious traps that Kaiba set for him. Yet Jounouchi never let that or some of Kaiba's less flattering comments get in the way of his fun.

All of which begged the question, why? Why was Kaiba entertaining this whim? Why wasn't he more annoyed— more outraged by Jounouchi's inability? So it wasn't any challenge Jounouchi posed in the game of chess. Could it be something as simple as Jounouchi's company?

_That's not as recent a development as you'd like to think_, a little voice whispered in his ears.

A hand waving close to his face pulled Kaiba from his train of thoughts. He looked up from the board and met Jounouchi's gaze across the table. Against the cold January light, Jounouchi's hair haloed him with a warm summer's glow. The room seemed to shrink and even with furniture between them, Jounouchi felt as close as that time in the Ferris wheel— passed out on Kaiba's shoulder— draped over Kaiba's back with a twisted ankle.

"Kaiba?" The contour of Jounouchi's lips resembled the golden ratio, balanced. Almost perfect if his constant lip biting hadn't chapped the skin, but the sheen of saliva left behind lent an alluring glow.

As Kaiba found it increasingly difficult to tear his gaze away, he wondered if he was the one with the oral fixation. He was the one sneaking long, lingering glances at Jounouchi's mouth over the last two weeks. He was the one judging the shape and quality of Jounouchi's lips, noting their color— whether they were wet or dried or chapped. He was the one studying the teeth indentations left behind after Jounouchi encountered a vexing math problem or a simple chess play.

Kaiba's breath caught in his throat. His rationality suddenly besieged by the urge to reach out, grab Jounouchi, and—

(Kiss him. Curse him. Wreck him as thoroughly as he did Kaiba. Excise him from Kaiba's life like he was a malignant tumor. Any and all of the other thoughts Kaiba'd been denying and shoving into a mental compartment long before he started collecting physical mementos in his desk drawer.)

"You okay, man? You're spacing out on me." Jounouchi's words grew quiet and concerned.

Kaiba shot to his feet, sending his chair tipping back and clattering to the ground. Jounouchi stared up with growing worry furrowed between his brows. Kaiba's dry mouth felt like he'd swallowed a cup of sand. He tried several times to clear the golf-ball-sized lump from his throat. His mind raced; thoughts and desires leaving devastating afterimages in their wake.

"I need a smoke," he croaked. Yet as he reached for his briefcase, he remembered he'd never replaced the pack given to Jounouchi. He motioned in Jounouchi's direction, refusing to meet his eyes, and said, "I'm out. Do you mind?"

"Uh, no problem." Jounouchi rummaged through his pockets before offering a familiar green carton. "But I only got these."

Kaiba warred with himself, weighting the shitty cigarettes against preserving his remaining sanity. But contemplating his choice led him to stare at Jounouchi's fingers, which spun off into runaway thoughts of how they might feel against his bare skin. Kaiba snatched the carton and exited the room and then the building short of sprinting. His hands trembled as he shook a cigarette loose. He cursed as his numb fingers fumbled with his lighter.

He coughed and sputtered after his first inhale, gagging on the taste. The second and third were marginally better, buoyed by the nicotine now swimming through his veins. By the fifth, his stomach no longer roiled with a sour bitterness.

Kaiba ran a hand through his hair, noting the sweat clinging to his forehead and locks. Something had gone very wrong. When he first extended a truce all those months ago, he'd done it on a whim. Sasebo, being so far removed from his usual seat of power had softened him. But like so many other things involving Jounouchi, it grew wild and out of Kaiba's control. The stilted niceties bred familiarity, which evolved into a reluctant friendship.

But it hadn't stopped there. He may be newly acquainted with friendship, but these urges— impulses aimed at Jounouchi didn't fall within its normal boundary. Friends didn't want to drink cigarette smoke from the other's lip. They didn't want to push the other down to feel the delicious strain of muscles fighting back.

Kaiba laughed, unable to ignore the shaky notes threaded through the sound. He'd been correct from the beginning. He and Jounouchi could never be friends. And for once, being right brought him little satisfaction.

Somehow, Kaiba finished his cigarette and returned to beat Jounouchi in one last game of chess. The silence was only broken by the sound of pieces clunking against the playing board. When the bell rang, Kaiba had never been more grateful to return to class.

While the teacher lectured, Kaiba tried to pinpoint _when_ he first fell prey to this, when his life had taken this terrible and irreversible turn. He painstakingly crafted a written inventory of his major interactions with Jounouchi over the last few months, then the last year. But the further back he went toward the times before Yuugi and his Puzzle, the less detail he recalled. Was that due to the limitation of human memory or the fact that he'd paid less attention then? The latter, along with his copious notes, implied he was paying much, much more attention now.

By the time he reached his office, he had lived with this new reality for eight full hours. In that span of time, the world didn't end, his company didn't crumble, and he? He remained Kaiba Seto, for better or worse.

-x-x-x-

It was easier to write his attraction off as lust. Lust made sense; as much sense as anything in this situation could. It explained his dream, the fixation on Jounouchi's body, the way his heart raced when Jounouchi was near, and the magnetic hold in Jounouchi's gaze. Lust was physical, chemical, and short-lived. Kaiba couldn't control who or what he dreamed about (yet), but he could choose to not act on his desire.

If he needed to treat the exercise as a challenge, so be it. Kaiba'd built an empire by serving it to the masses in colorful, interactive slices. He'd built his image— his reputation— around the adversarial. He could handle this and not dwell on the fact he hadn't chosen to cut ties.

Kaiba straightened his back and slid open the door to the unused classroom. His eyes immediately fell on Jounouchi's back. His thin t-shirt was pulled tight over the broad muscles of his shoulders— courtesy of a lifetime of athleticism and physical labor. When Kaiba was much younger and less confident, Jounouchi's physique would have been something he envied. Now it made his mouth run dry for different reasons.

He stepped across the threshold, expecting Jounouchi to throw out a greeting. But other than the rhythmic rise and fall of Jounouchi's shoulder blades, he didn't stir. Yesterday was Thursday, Kaiba recalled, one of Jounouchi's usual late shift at Lawson. He approached with care, sidestepping Jounouchi's crumpled jacket on the floor. As he rounded the two tables they'd previously push together to play chess, he confirmed that Jounouchi was indeed asleep in his chair.

Jounouchi pillowed his head over his folded arms, legs kicked out haphazardly. His unkempt bangs were long enough that they brushed up against his dark eyelashes, which periodically fluttered in his dreams. The peaceful picture was ruined by the furrow on his brow and the sudden shiver that wracked his body.

"Idiot," Kaiba muttered. The building wasn't heated and temperatures took a steep dive last night. "Don't blame me if you catch a cold."

Jounouchi gave no reply, being asleep and all, but curled tighter into himself.

After spending several moments staring at Jounouchi's face, Kaiba felt his resolve crumble, brick by brick. He set his briefcase on the floor with a sigh and knelt down to retrieve the fallen jacket. He shook it free of wrinkles, careful to not rouse Jounouchi. He hated how his hands shook as he reached across Jounouchi's back to drape the jacket as a makeshift blanket.

From this proximity, a familiar scent tickled Kaiba's nose; tobacco from Kaiba's usual brand of cigarettes. His disbelieving eyes flew to the carton peeking out of the jacket pocket and then to Jounouchi's mouth. His hands fell still, resting between Jounouchi's shoulder blades. Want hit him like a low blow to the guts, dizzying and stealing his breath away.

"Kaiba?" a sleep-addled voice asked.

He lifted his head to meet Jounouchi's amber gaze, finally realizing how close their noses came to touching. Without meaning to, one hand crept up until it laid flush on the back of Jounouchi's neck. Jounouchi shivered, craning back to melt into the touch.

"What are you doing?"Jounouchi asked, sounding more awake despite the tremor strumming through his question. Fear and confusion displaced the drowsiness in his gaze.

It probably meant there was something wrong with him, but it emboldened Kaiba to see Jounouchi's panic. Like a reminder of the equilibrium that once governed them, Kaiba could almost fool himself into thinking he was still in control.

(He wasn't. Not by a long shot. That ship sailed long ago. The truth was he'd wanted to kiss Jounouchi since Christmas.)

"Whatever I want," Kaiba muttered and pressed their lips together to swallow Jounouchi's soft gasp.

Jounouchi's lips were warm and plush. When Kaiba flicked his tongue out, it scraped across Jounouchi's chapped lip and drew a strangled noise from the boy trembling under his grip. Jounouchi filled his head; the feather lightness of the hair tickling across the back of Kaiba's hand, the rushed exhales of air running over Kaiba's face, and the butterfly flutter of his eyelashes against Kaiba's cheek.

Kaiba squeezed his eyes closed, trying to calm the low thrum of arousal coursing through his veins. Everything overwhelmed him like an overflow error grinding his internal program to a halt. But he longed for more of Jounouchi's heat— wanted to skim his fingertips across more skin. He wanted Jounouchi to press in like they could meld together. He wanted those calloused hands to reach out and draw him closer.

He needed Jounouchi to want him just as terribly, but there existed no laundry list of planning or action items to guarantee that outcome. At least there was none he could see clearly. For all his purported genius, he didn't know how to proceed. He pulled back, hands falling limply to his side.

"Kaiba," Jounouchi growled, sending another bolt down Kaiba's spine.

He picked up his briefcase and exited the building as swiftly as possible.

-x-x-x-

The kiss kept playing over and over in his head on the ride back to the mansion. He rolled up the partition and clenched his fists on the leather interior. With every replay, his once half-hearted erection grew more insistent. It was embarrassing how aroused he became with one stupid kiss. Not even that stupid sex dream had garnered a reaction on this scale.

He stormed into the mansion, using his briefcase to hide his arousal. Once he was safely behind his bedroom door, he stripped down and hissed when his cock sprang free.

A cold shower. That was the only sane way to deal with the situation.

He wrenched the tap to its coldest setting and bit back a yelp. Every drop stung his feverish skin like needles, but nothing stung as raw as his mortification. The water hit him like a wake-up call, clearing the fog long enough for him to question his own sanity. What the fuck had he been thinking? How could he fall prey so easily to Jounouchi's charm?

Still, he'd expected some reaction from Jounouchi. He didn't even try to stop Kaiba from leaving, either too shocked or too disgusted to do anything. Whatever the reason though, it probably wasn't remotely related to how Kaiba felt now. If Jounouchi had kissed him, where would that leave him? Would the real Jounouchi be as bold as the one from Kaiba's dreams?

It was an idle thought, but one that caught the attention of his previously waning erection. He glared, outraged by his lower half's one-tracked mind. The mental image of Jounouchi, on his knees and ready to pick up where his dream left off, nearly floored Kaiba. Even as shame crept in, he couldn't resist the temptation to chase that pleasure. He reached down and took hold of himself, biting back a moan with each experimental stroke.

In his current fantasy, the abandoned classroom replaced the Ferris wheel's interior. Here, there were no shadows to hide behind and everything about Jounouchi was laid bare to him. Jounouchi's soft locks tickled as he kissed his way up to Kaiba's inner thigh. He watched the hunger swirl in Jounouchi's eyes and a predatory smile spread across his kiss-swollen lips.

"Relax, Kaiba," every syllable vibrated through his body and shook him to his core. "You're so wound up."

Kaiba chose not to reply, instead running his hand through Jounouchi's hair and coming to rest across the nape of Jounouchi's neck. Jounouchi arched up, baring his Adam's apple and flicking his tongue out to lick the head of Kaiba's cock. Kaiba bit down on his lower lip and muffled a strangled moan. He pressed down harder until his cock nudged against Jounouchi's mouth. Jounouchi obliged with one last wicked grin and swallowed Kaiba whole.

Kaiba climaxed to the thought of those lips wrapped around his cock like he'd seen them sucking on cigarettes.

After the warm glow of his orgasm quickly faded, it left him shivering and unsatisfied. A fantasy, no matter how good, did not equal reality. Kaiba leaned forward, planted his forehead against the tiled wall, and waited for the icy water to wash everything away.

* * *

Omg guys, I don't know what I'm doing. These stupid, dense boys...

Sorry for the massive delay! I started a new job in January and it took a while to get accustomed to it. Hopefully, I'll be a little faster, but definitely not as fast as I used to be. (I used to write during downtime at work, but that no longer exists.) Heads up, there's another one-shot fic that's going to take priority over the next chapter of Side Deck.


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